The pre-feasibility study was commissioned about September 2009.
It was said to be nearing completion in the report for the 1st Quarter - 2010, dated early April, but wasn't mentioned thereafter AFAIK.
In late April came the first announcement of selling by JP Morgan.
Then Mr. Carr died on 6 June 2010. (You could wonder if anyone outside the family realised in the weeks before his death that his days at the helm were numbered.)
That was 2.5 months ago, and I for one have been wondering when the "let's get producing" banner would start waving again. What happened to the well-fanfared PFS?
Well, I've been told that:
* It's been cancelled * It really wasn't close to completion * It was commissioned too soon * It was replaced by a scoping study * CRK want to move more ounces from inferred to indicated * CRK don't want to rush any fences
One could offer several innocuous possible reasons for why the PFS was initiated prematurely and therefore deserved cancellation. After all, it's quite credible, at least to me, that Mr Carr, essentially an industrialist, lacked experience in mine development planning, and moved too soon. It's also likely that there were substantial pressures to hasten the steps toward production. One could, however, alternatively speculate (without any justification whatever) that preliminary feedback on the analysis of the deposits hinted at issues affecting feasibility that forced a rethink. But, even if true, is that necessarily terrible? There are always issues of one kind or another arising as the state of knowledge of deposits improves. No deposit is ideal. It would depend how serious any such hypothetical issue was. Poster SurferStu has mulled usefully over the deposits' nature on the CRK thread in the past.
So...what now? Presumably production may not be quite as close as it might have appeared at the start of the year, in the interest of taking fewer risks. Are there any other share price catalysts in sight?
* There are seven new diamond holes underway * JP Morgan selling is well advanced and must end sometime * CRK may seek an MD for their already strong team * The market cap of $47M includes ~$22M cash.....and 4.1MOz * Possible rebound due for Oz miners vs. West African ones * The micro-caps might be due for a run * Gold price outlook seems positive * The price fall must have improved the risk of a takeover
I have over the past week been leaning toward selling, but now am a bit happier about the balance of risks. All right, I admit it - I even bought a few more. But I am underwater on CRK so far, and it's a high risk play. I doubt that TA folks would approve of my trying to catch a falling knife, so DYOR. Near Kalgoorlie, borewater, powerline 20km away, under new management.
CRK Price at posting:
35.1¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
