Drill baby, drill!

Yes, this post is about black gold. Not the liquid kind, though. In anticipation of an announcement for drilling results and resource extensions I had another look at the previous announcements regarding the current drilling campaign. Here I'd like to discuss a few points that I and perhaps some of you may have overlooked or forgotten.

What Talga told us:
1. Talga is currently engaged in a 12-18 months drilling campaign
2. depth drilling of the existing ore reserves of Nunasvaara South and part of Niska came first and is likely completed by now
3. additional adjacent resources ("North Ridge", between Nunasvaara North and Niska South) are to be drilled as well and may have already been done by now
4. in Q1 there will be drilling of the Jalkunen deposit (70 km from Vittangi), after which a scoping study will follow
5. There will be further drilling in the Vittangi area, possibly until early 2023

Most immediately interesting point is 2., IMHO. Why would Talga want to extend the resources pertaining to the Vittangi DFS and Niska scoping study? The studies are already based on the known JORC ore reserve. First option is that they want to extend the life of mine. But is this really a priority right now to plan for a time after two decades? The more plausible reason for me is that those two mines will see rather early expansions in scope and this is what's been delaying the joint ventures. Curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Point 3 should allow for further expansion, as those resources are geographically very close and might be served by a simple extension of the Niska mine.

Point 4 shows that they intend to open a third mine, possibly in close succession to Niska. Due to its location, it will probably require its own concentrator. Anode refinery may be anywhere, possibly co-located with a customer.

All these facts make me quite optimistic that Talga has targeted ~ 300 kta for perhaps 2026. Keep in mind, the stated customer interest is in that same ballpark. Cannot wait to learn more.

Bonus:

6. Talga stated that they want to start mining in Vittangi in 2023. Are they actually aiming for Talnode production earlier than Q4/2024 as indicated in the DFS? Do they really need a year to commision the concentrator?