those agreements are medium term, we also don’t know the...

those agreements are medium term, we also don’t know the details, there could easily be clauses to cover the eventuality of AJM being bought out or going bust.

The point is that a mine efficiently and cost effectively producing spod might not be enough for AJM to return good SP gains to retail holders. Pala has the potential to force AJM close to the wall or at least to keep diluting shareholders even if its core operations are marginally profitable. There’s not much fat left between floor prices, cost of production and interest payments.

For the truly paranoid, SS could easily get into bed with the debt holders to encourage them to keep turning the screw, keep the SP low and facilitate a cheaper takeover.