Kasper,I agree with those thoughts - there is a diminishing...

Kasper,

I agree with those thoughts - there is a diminishing marginal return to keep drilling and drilling the last 40%. the best ROI (in the shortest time) is to realise the value now and kick it up the foodchain. One of the attractions of Marampa as an asset, compared with other larger IO assets, is its ability to get product to the customers sooner rather than later. Important to monetize whilst IO prices are high.

Also, whilst I was relatively comfortable with CFE buying in and developing a resource in Sierra Leone as part of a diversified suite of assets, I would baulk at the sovereign risk if the company was investing much of its money mining there. Majors can take on this sort of risk due to their size and geographic diversification. So if a 'black swan' event did happen, it isn't the end of the world for a large player. But there is much greater risk for a company of CFE's size to be mining in what has, in the past, been a troubled part of the world.

Big big difference in the risk profiles of being a developer in West Africa, and spending almost $600m mining in West Africa.

So I support Tony 'rattling the sabre', and driving the very best deal he can, and (hopefully) selling Marampa privately. It is the lower risk thing to do in uncertain markets, the pragmatic thing to do. And whilst he was criticised in some quarters for his original sale of Cape Lambert to MCC, and indeed the deals he did on Lady Annie and with AKI, it was this pragmatism that Tony has shown that has grown his and his shareholders wealth.

I am pretty sure we will see similar commercial prudence shown again.

yaq