Yes you are correct - the good news is NPV has increased even though the discount rate (WACC) has increased as well.
The NPV of a project can be boosted by using an inappropriately low discount rate. As you point out - who would invest their money in a mining development in West Africa for just an 8% return?
For my money the most interesting measure of return is the Internal Rate of Return. This is the discount rate that you would need to apply for the project to be "break even" in NPV terms. The 34% is a very encouraging number in this regard - it is an indicator the return on invested capital that Marampa is forecast to make. The discount rate is inherently judgemental - they could have used 15% or 20% and still come out with a positive NPV. The IRR provides the gold standard measure in terms of allowing you to assess the projected return vs risk.
Cheers Si
CFE Price at posting:
45.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
