A Scoping Study models likely ways to get into profitable...

A Scoping Study models likely ways to get into profitable production.
Reading though the anns Rox had long believed that the shallow free milling gold could be open cut mined in pits and then processed through a standard CIL plant which would have had to be no smaller than 1.2 Mtpa PA.
Capex for that model would have been around $150m imo.
That was probably the model in the study to be released in June.
What likely gave Rox second thoughts was the soaring cost of the plant and labour shortages meaning a long time to build the mine and the problem of whether the profitability of the model would attract investors willing to put up the Capex.
Then Rox modelled and announced a small 480 Ktpa plant which would need a short decline to reach high grade gold.
That model likely won out being much lower Capex, more profitable and much quicker to get into production.
So there isn't a hold up as such. IMO the low Capex model is probably being fine tuned by verification of the high grade gold to feed it, ie they are probably working out an indicated and measured JORC for the study as they are required to do by regulations around Scoping Studies..
Rox said Q3 for release so it could come at any time before the end of next month.