The ASX.HCH presentation shared by Clark888 is interesting. I...

The ASX.HCH presentation shared by Clark888 is interesting. I think it highlights the strength of our proposed mine. I like this graph:




To recap: We are on the Yorke Peninsula with no need for FIFO workers. A few kilometres from power, water and a direct road to port (2.5 hours away). The grid is 80% renewables. It's one of the top 5 mining jurisdictions in the world. A flat site, no seismic activity or heavy rains, which was cleared of vegetation 100 years ago. No digging hundreds of metres of underground mining.

Could the grade be an Ivanhoe-esque 3 or 4 percent? Yeah. But then it would be in the Congo. Could it be bigger? Ideally. ASX.CVV is, but their grade is only 0.25% and they are at the start of their approvals process journey. Our grade might not have been significant thirty years ago, but in 2024 (see graph below) the average grade is only 0.53%. We look to be about on par.

Of the peers listed on this presentation uploaded by Clarke888 of projects NOT owned by a major mining corporation, only one company has a higher copper grade than Hillside. Arguably, if we spent tens of millions more pre-development, we could improve the official, on-paper size of Hillside. Incorporate stage two and three. That's probably unnecessary. There is big, and then there's big enough.

The big thing for me has always been the permits and approvals. Rex is fully approved and supported by the SA government. Rex claims we have a good relationship with the local indigenous people. Certainly there isn't massive community opposition. Just the occasional grumbles. To be expected. I'd argue most people want Hillside to go ahead.

I also checked out Northern Dynasty's "Pebble" in Alaska. It looks massive on paper. It is tied up in litigation, with the locals opposed to the site for cultural and environmental (salmon breeding areas) reasons. Sentences like 'we are very disappointed with the court's decision...' and 'we intend to appeal...." abound. This won't be built any time soon. Northern Dynasty lists six significant projects tied up with US permitting issues. I see South32's joint Ambler project is among them. Severe cold weather is likely an issue in Alaska and northern Canada too.


Northern Dynasty lists (above) Argentina, Chile and Peru as politically and/or socially unstable. They would say that, but they've got a point. Let's just say there is uncertainty going forward. That theoretically crosses off most of the projects on the Hot Chili presentation. PNG is probably a non-starter. Namibia could work. Rick Rule often mentions the risk of so-called tier one jurisdictions which tie you up in green and red tape, then steal from you in the way of time, and then unexpected royalties and taxes along the journey. Rick also says to invest in huge proposed projects because they always get bigger over time and there's enormous upside. "You get the same problems with smaller projects as the huge ones, without the upside". He's right, but the bigger the project, the bigger the environmental impact and the further from civilisation you'll probably be. That gets back to Hillside's location and the fact we've cleared the permitting and approval stages. An envious position, in my opinion.

Western Copper's 'Casino' project is in the Yukon Territory in Canada. It's 560km from a port in Alaska. Four so-called First Nations are affected by the development. It's in the middle of nowhere. A feasibility statement has been released. Connecting to power and building roads will be an issue. They seem to have a long way to go.

I'm not denigrating any of the South American projects or specifically, Hot Chili's project. South America has always been a good jurisdiction. My argument is that as an ASX-focused investor unlikely to ever be buying on the TSX, RXM's Hillside looks compelling. As Azzif said a week ago, who would be selling their shares at 16 cents?! On a balance of location, size, grade, and approvals stage, I feel more comfortable than ever with Rex's position (I just wish they'd hurry the hell up; as we all do )