Rick:
Yes, it was disappointing that Westmin withdrew and it does feel as if we have come through a war. I'd like to focus on the past tense of this... but I've probably said that before.
A couple of points about Westmin / TDF. First, their technical report really was positive. (I'm not saying it was screaming... but definitely positive.) They said that we needed at least 1,500 meters more drilling on targets we have already started to drill. That is, two of the three targets we have drilled call for further testing to determine what and how much is there.
We also have six more targets identified so far which have not been examined (with a drill) at all.
Also, Westmin's senior technical person said to me that this was a business decision, not a geological one. He added that he wished they had been able to drill those other holes. In other words, they walked away from a project where they did not know the results of their own plans. (And this doesn't even consider the core which was dropped from a helicopter and never assayed.)
Westmin recently got into the Northern Porphyry Belt with its Lomas Byas project, a large, expensive, low grade copper deposit which will take a lot of time, money and effort. (We visited it during the analyst tour in the spring.) They also have the Wolverine project in Yukon, their Myra Falls mine and a couple of other projects. TDF pales in comparison and it would have taken them a couple of more years and several millions of dollars more before they had any piece of TDF.
During the analyst tour, the senior analyst in the group, a base metals guy with RBCDS, told us and the governor of TDF that he beleived we would have a mine there some day.
Westmin is a good, smart, and, I believe, growing company which I assisted in their major financing a couple of years ago. Rather than disputing their business decision, I'll wait for the results of the work that we do and look forward to another opportunity to work with them in the future.
Greg
PS: More news on other projects next week and into September, I hope. |
