Yeah look I was wondering the same thing and initially considered SRN might have better metrics in terms of total indicated and inferred tonnage, head grade, strip ratio and silica/alumina in concentrate.
Then I reminded myself that hio's ore was softer and more easily liberated than most crystalised/clay magnetite hosts. This seems to make a huge difference to opex. Compare srn's AUD80/t of concentrate fob with hio's AUD46/t fob at current exchange rates according to hio's pfs.
Give srn a 10% credit on account of AUD having weakened against the greenback since hio's pfs in 2017 and hio is still well ahead on opex to produce a better earnings yield across the life of its mine.
Srn's capex for a 2.5mtpa operation exceeds 500m whereas hio's for 10mtpa was estimated in the pfs at 1.4b: relatively less capital intensive.
I'm sure I've missed something and would appreciate having that pointed out but that's my comparative analysis.
I'm not overly impressed by srn's gold and vanadium btw.
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