Indulge me
posted on
Jul 22, 2009 12:21AM
NI 43-101 Update (September 2012): 11.1 Mt @ 1.68% Ni, 0.87% Cu, 0.89 gpt Pt and 3.09 gpt Pd and 0.18 gpt Au (Proven & Probable Reserves) / 8.9 Mt @ 1.10% Ni, 1.14% Cu, 1.16 gpt Pt and 3.49 gpt Pd and 0.30 gpt Au (Inferred Resource)
A solid couple of years have come and gone since I first came to learn about Noront. Over this time I have seldom posted mainly because Lord knows I am not a geologist and would not know a moon rock from a store bought fish bowl decoration. I am not a stock trader, day trader, financial analyst or accountant. I am however, a businessman who deals daily with millions of dollars and an annual revenue budget of $250M. I know IRR, levered, ROI and have people who prepare reports I need. As such, in order to analyze this Noront situation I have had to revert to what I know and that is the business of ROI and securing financing for the purposes of generating revenue in the first place, and listening to people who know things I don't, including some posters on here.
To do that I spent a few hours tonight reviewing the 134 page P&E Consultants NI 43-101 & 43-101F1 Technical report and Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared for Noront and delivered 12/08. In it, the plethora of data and resource estimates detailed McFaulds Lake Eagle One Deposit, made recommendations, projected costs and revenue using known discoveries and discussed the economic viability of the area.
Without going on and on, there are conclusions and confirmations drawn. 1). There continues to be enough evidence (historic and growing) that the economic viability of McFaulds is close. 2). To commit, there are significant financial, political, environmental and tactical resources required not the least of which is access at $306,000 per km. 3). Ni and other prices have to continue to recover. 4). Partnerships will be required with provincial and First Nations regulatory bodies. 5). Wllingness and capital partners are required. Dealing with these significant issues is where I believe the majority of the executives and BOD's have spent their time over the winter.
Today I read a lot of garbage borne from frustration and albeit not surprising, it is unproductive and distracting. For instance Windfalls was currently in Care and Maintenance and too many emotional ties to the project were exposed. Business is business and love is BS. The SP increased after the news, EAG went nowhere and although it was surprising, it is pretty clear Noront feels there is enough reason to concentrate on McFaulds. Besides, we're still involved, someone else leads the work and NOT benefits through royalties. That project is years behind McFaulds.
IMHO, based on business only, I revert back to my suggestion earlier that NOT now believes there is a mine. 49, 50 and 51 for that matter may confirm additional depths and percentages but again, (IMHO) that is a given and not responsible for the recent activity in and of itself. The next step and confirmation of same is what is driving this now. Steps are being taken by NOT as we come out of the recession and prices recover and as witnessed before one or two holes confirmed mean nothing without pulling the trigger. And that is where I believe we find ourselves.
Report is available on the NOT website under technical reports on the projects link.
Best regards.