There is no comparison here to a loan to install a driveway. In that case the bank would have to know that the driveway would increase the value of the house sufficiently to ensure the payback, and also that your net worth justified the loan. There would be no risk on their part whatsoever. A loan on a bunch of ore in the ground,no matter how good it looked is something else completely.

For what it is worth, I have run a business for over thirty years. Once a year we sit down and consider a budget for the following year. What needs to be purchased and what is the payback on this purchase (1 year,2 years etc). We then try to determine the best way to finance this purchase, and one consideration has always been "equity financing". I may be just a "retail investor", but I do have a bit of knowledge on the subject. no offence taken or proffered.

The above subject is pure speculation, and only meant as something to occupy our time as we await Tuesday morning.

Regards

K