In reply to questions about how long it takes to complete the Resources Estimate. The purpose of the resource estimate is to provide 'an independent verification' of the estimate of what mineralization is there. The process is intense and takes months.

A resources estimate is compiled over time with the starting point being when the company thinks it has enough data to warrant starting the process. At that point the consultant reviews the initial data and models what is available. In modeling the deposit they run geostatistics to look at the consistency of data within and between holes. The consistency allows them to project results from drill hole to drill hole to estimate what is in between them. That information tells the consultant whether or not they need more infill holes and if they do, where. That is the work that was just released in today’s NR so the consultant now has the drill data they need to 'model' the deposit. Plugging it into the model would only take a couple of hours. Optimizing the model is based on geological knowledge of the area and other deposits and would be done over several weeks testing various scenarios.

The second key part of the resources estimate is that the consultant needs to independently verify what is being provided to him (or her). This included multiple site visits to check that there are actually drills there, that there is core, that the core looks like it is suppose to for a nickel deposit, look at the local geology, check out the knowledge of the professional staff and anything else that gives him confidence to independently 'verify' the results. It would also include reviewing the QA/QC protocols around sample handling and assays. This would have already happened.

We are still waiting for Rhodium assays so if they want these included in the estimate the process stalls here until they get them or they can move ahead with what they have and tweak the model later.

The third and time consuming part would be the metallurgical work that is done to determine the exact nature of the mineralization and the optimal way of recovering it. They would look at the various processes that could be used to recover the metal content. This is complicated in that what optimizes the recovery of one metal may be sub optimal for another and each process has different capital and operational costs associated with it. This work would be done using samples comprised from drill core from the deposits. If more than one zone is interpreted in the deposit the mineralization in each zone would be tested separately. This takes time and involved pre-assays and post assays so it can take months.

Once the deposit is modeled and the recovery rates are determined they look at the best way to mine the deposit and the associated costs. Although not a mine plan they rough out the mining, capital and infrastructure costs to determine cut off grades. At that point they can determine the resources estimate and write it up.

So while we can ballpark numbers and use rough estimates to arrive at a resources estimate in a couple of hours an official resources estimate takes months depending on complexity and the availability of information. I expect that ours is still several months away.

... Been There