Just got back from the doctor's office and all I can say is wow looks like the sh*t hit the fan today. Lot of concerned people here wondering what's going on with CUU and their late update on the BFS. As a fellow shareholder I can understand everyone's angst over the constant delays and lack of meaningful communication from management, as I too am sometimes frustrated by their poor handling of PR.
However, as a PE I try to look at things too from their perspective and the mammoth task they have in getting this BFS done properly. From that view of perspective I can understand the enormity of the task and the time required to "get this done right" to coin ES words. When I think more about it and compare it to my own previous field of work and experience as a structural Engineer, to do a detailed cost review of a big project like this does take considerable time and manpower to accomplish properly.
A multi-year building project like a mine is very difficult to price out accurately and properly. In a mine you have many items which are long lead items ( like crushers etc., ball mills etc.) which you need to order years in advance. How do you determine what the costs of these items will end up being when input items like steel, iron, copper etc. can change from one year to the next? With the way cost inflation is today steel may go up 30% one year like it did in 07-08. Then the next year it could fall 50%. These are the challenges that contractors that supply these items face today. I'm sure that when the review team goes over these items they will be calling the suppliers to give them their best prices. The supplier will probably tell our reviewers to call back in a week or two so they can work out what the price will be two years down the road. Hence, I can see why this will take some time to accomplish especially when many items like this will be involved.
So long story short, from a professional level, I can understand the reason for this lengthy process. We have a big mammoth project here folks and it is not going to be done overnight. Much as we would like to have instant gratification of our investment we need to sit back and look at the bigger picture and be realistic with our time expectations. Having said that I am now giving it a few more weeks until the end of Oct for our expectations to be realized.