Just in case you did not see...

Just in case you did not see this:

http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=37132&sn=Detail

($73m financing, getting close to shipping Ni)

REAL PROGRESS
Tasmania's first nickel mine passes financing milestone
It is almost 10 years to the day when the first discovery hole was drilled for Allegiance Mining NL on the Avebury nickel mine in Tasmania and the signing of finance documents is an important step in keeping the project on course for producing its first concentrate early next year.
Author: Ross Louthean
Posted: Thursday , 20 Sep 2007
PERTH -
Allegiance Mining announced today that formal documentation has been executed with Societè Generale and the Australian & New Zealand Banking Group for a project financing facility totalling $A73 million.
This takes in a project finance facility of $US45 M plus a cost overrun for a further $A7.5 M ($US6.46 M), and an Environmental Bond Facility of $A2 M ($US1.74 M).
Allegiance's chairman Tony Howland-Rose said today that "real progress is being made on all fronts" with the mine development.
Ore is being stockpiled and the mill was being installed on the basis that it will treat 900,000 tonnes per annum to produce about 8,500 tpa of nickel in concentrates. The mill is being designed to double output should the company decide either to optimise production or ongoing exploration significantly increases resources.
The current planning is for a minimum 10 years life at Avebury which is near the historic zinc-lead mining centre of Zeehan on Tasmania's West Coast.
Allegiance has an offtake agreement with its new major shareholder Jinchuan Group which is China's largest integrated producer of nickel, copper, platinum group metals and some chemical products such as sulphuric acid. Jinchuan now holds a 10.18% stake in the company. Jinchuan has the right to take up a board position.
The company has three exploration rigs operating on the company's West Coast properties and also has two underground rigs exploring from the developing underground mine.
Howland-Rose said that the fact it has taken 10 years to get Avebury to this point of assured financing should not be seen as having been a long haul as project development today is commonly producing a time scale of more than 15 years.
Intierra's Minmet data base shows that Avebury has a proven-probable sulphide nickel resource of 7.293 million tonnes grading 0.87% Ni, and a measured-inferred 8.97 Mt @ 1.05% Ni.