I dont know what the big secret is..?
Owners of the business know f all.. classy.
In almost all cases, a royalty investment firm would not purchase a Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty over a deposit without having at least preliminary metallurgical (MET) test work or some reasonable understanding of expected recoveries.
Here's why MET work is crucial:
NSR depends on recoverable metal, not just in-situ grade or tonnes. Without MET work, you don’t know:
If the metal is recoverable at all.
What percentage of it can be economically extracted.
What processing method would be required (and how costly or complex it would be).
Processing challenges can kill value. Even a large, high-grade deposit can be worthless if the metallurgy is poor (e.g., refractory ores, ultramafic-hosted nickel with poor liberation or complex mineralogy).
NSR Firms assess not just the size of the deposit but also how much of it can realistically be monetized via processing. They often require at least:
Preliminary MET results (e.g., bench-scale flotation/leaching).
A scoping study (PEA) or similar level of detail.
(20min delay)