I agree, the $1.5m raise would be my preference.
The sooner we get the PFS finished, the better.
Then see what we can do to skip the BFS go directly DSO mining. 2026 could and should be our year!!!
I was actually thinking that the company should name and do rock samples across the remaining 5 of 7 identified anomalies in the Bekisopa region.
It would be extremely cheap exercise to do, and whilst it won't give us any concrete results, it could give an insight to the prospectivity of the region.
I also agree on Tratramarina, as appealing as that is, get to 2Mt production, repay any loans in the first year, pay some dividends, buy some equipment to start processing higher grade material AND THEN unlock that resource. It might cost $5m to prove it up, and then another $XXXm to be able to start exploiting that, but that could mean we have 2 operations producing by 2032.
With relation to funding, that is totally valid and sound advice.
My preferred timeline would be:
2024
- PFS delivered in June
- Mining license approved by June (hopefully before)
- Announce we are going mining
- Raise $50m debt and equity in August
- Start ground works and order long lead time items in August
2025
- Go cheap mining in March (given it is wet season)
- Produce 750kt in the first 9 months of the year (1Mt annualised production rate). Margins would probably be lower, but even at $75/t production cost, it would result in $80/t profit, which would equate to $60m in profit which could be used to pay for the port / conveyor / loading facilities from cashflows.
- Drill out and prove up more "measured" DSO and deeper resource at Bekisopa - target 500Mt
- Drill and identify part of the resource at Satrokala ($5m?)
- Electro magnetic survey the 5 remaining resources and Tratramarina ($2m?)
2026
- Increase production to 1.5Mt, which may bring costs down to $60/t and should equate to $144m in profits (assuming the IO price is stable), and then we can pay dividends and build out the rest of the infra.
- Prove up more "measured" DSO resource at Bekisopa and Satrokala
- Drill and identify Tratramarina ($5m?)
2027
- Increase production 2Mt and start ordering equipment to process lower grade material to produce DRI quality
- Retire.
If we went this path, maybe under 130m shares?
Long term EPS of $2 - $4
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