Just gonna slide in here and answer this one, if that's okay
@Thesi and
@Star Boarder.
The mine will be upgraded next year. There's an existing mine there, so the only hurdle is the permitting and approvals, which may not be much of a hurdle when there's an existing mine.
The plant will be installed whenever the 10 shipping containers that Joe mentions in the video are delivered. That's what Outotec's cPlant is for. Processing the feedstock at the mine.
LPD pays for it, it was included in the PFS. $15m was budgeted for the concentrator, a further 20% is required to make it produce feldspar and quartz:
http://www.lepidico.com/wp-content/...Enhanced-development-option-for-Alvarroes.pdf
"Just seems to me that Portugal is in fact the medium to long term play"
I don't think so. I think Mt Cattlin is the medium to long term play. Everything they have said about Alvarroes suggests it is the primary feed source. They're clearly designing a plant to be put there. It will be much easier to separate the minerals at Alvarroes than it will to recover the tailings from Mt Cattlin, which is what I pointed out here:
https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/lpd-share-price.4241887/page-21?post_id=33694138#.WyOTskiFOUk
It's also a simpler source from a contract negotiation point of view. Groupo Mota don't seem fussed about whether we go mining ourselves or they do it, as long as we give them a little bit of whatever is dug up for their own supply.
GXY will be a different story to negotiate with. They have a highly strung operation going, as you mentioned. They're going to be very cautious about anything interfering in that process.
Then there's the whole thing of what does GXY want out of LPD. Groupo Mota are just happy to sell some ore or have someone mine some for them. GXY may be a bit firmer on the price paid for their tailings. I'm not saying it would be exorbitant, I'm just saying I think Alvarroes will end up having a cheaper cost of production than what LPD can buy from Mt Cattlin.
And, importantly, they're still doing testwork on Mt Cattlin to figure out if it is suitable. Alvarroes they know is good to go.
Cheers
(20min delay)