The start up costs of a project of this size is not uncommon, the perspective is that it is not a small project. The difficulty since the GFC and IO price drops is actually attracting the funds for such large scale projects.
The figure you have quoted would include the port and rail infrastructure which the Government now take charge of.
The mine CAP ex which SDL has to seek funding for, is around $700-800m.
The financial burden for SDL was significantly reduced with the announcement of the Government funding the port and rail infrastructure and allows them to bring forward plans to build the processing plant. With the inclusion of the processing plant the Cap ex would increase to $1.7b.
The processing plant improves the strip ratio and extends the life of the reserve, in addition, it should allow them to produce high quality pellets which attract the highest return.
Everything is in place and ready to go except one final hurdle....funding...and it has so far proved to be a big hurdle....
Exploration Permit 92 Update (EP92)???, page-18
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