I think all this talk about the decision to shut down the...

I think all this talk about the decision to shut down the Murchison as bloody obvious and has been for a long time is just plain wrong.

Do you really think that they would have built a plant and gone ahead with the Murchison if they knew the all in sustaining costs were going to be in the range of $AU1900/oz?

That is just plain ludicrous.

If they were expecting head grades of 1.8-2.4 g/t in FY213 and were only getting 1.6, would you expect them to shut down immediately with all the costs that incurs without taking some time and effort to see what was wrong and whether or not it can be corrected before taking such drastic action?

In the end they may have gotten the original modelling wrong and they may well indeed shut down or sell it off (of course if they were that wrong who would buy it?). But in the mean time, I expect them to work through the issues calmly and methodically and not make a rash decision. I think their time frame is about right.

Monday morning quarterbacking is easy (and perhaps fun). Saying particular decisions should be made when you bear none of the consequences is too easy too. Making decisions when you don't have all the available information in front of you is a recipe for disaster. I can't fault SLR for what they have done thus far (but may when more information comes to light). I haven't read a single argument here that would convince me there are better managers for SLR posting on this forum.