Regarding the timing of the PP:

There is a truism that states it is easier to raise money when you don't need to. Raising cash when you desperately need it can be very difficult, and as Mr. Vegas pointed out, you don't want to get caught "fifty buck short"

While many here have guessed that the money is to advance other projects, which to some extent will be the case, the company will also require significant cash reserves were it to go into negotiations for the sale of Tesoro. I have personally seen "exclusive negotiations" for the sale of a mining property take more than a year. Keep in mind that any company or conglomerate that is getting set to drop billions on a property is going to do a vast amount of DD. Their people will go over every sample and calculation twice. They will do their own confirmation sampling and drilling. And as we are becoming so familiar with, this all takes time.

So if negotiations were to start, St. Elias would be somewhat handcuffed at that point. They wouldn't be able to make significant changes during the negotiations. Therefore having a goodly sum of cash on hand would be most prudent. Afterall, lawyers and accountants are pricy and it wouldn't do to see a dwindling bank account drive the negotiating process forward. You can bet our buyer will have deep pockets.

IMO having a stocked kitty will serve us very well. Good proactive forward thinking!

Cheers