Silver doesn't need to go up significantly for MMG to do very well. MMG's silver will go up significantly from their drilling, and the current silver price is several times the price of a few years ago, and a very profitable level for a project like MMG's.
The whole junior mining sector peaked when MMG peaked 2 years ago, and most zinc/silver juniors have gone down even more than MMG since then. The big players don't need zinc at 2 to be interested when the expanded feas is done -- zinc was half the current price, at about .35, when Skorpion went to production, and it got bought out after the feas for several times MMG's market cap, even with a much smaller deposit in the middle of nowhere with no silver. That was at a time when there was even less interest in zinc mining projects, with many mines shutting down. Because of their low production costs, MMG's not like other zinc juniors that need a high zinc price to do well.
In 2 years, even in a prolonged global recession, zinc should be much higher as the supply gap should be in full effect by then, especially with all the current shutdowns. Majors will be looking for big, low-cost projects to help fill that gap and replace the projects being shut down, and big users will be looking for them to secure future supply. There will likely be multiple bidders for MMG after the feas is done, ensuring a good price for shareholders. The drilling to prove up the much bigger resource combined with the very strong economics in the expanded feas is what will bring the big players.
In the current market liquidation, it may seem like all metal and stock prices will go down and stay down forever, but without prices going back up, there won't be enough supply for the future. Prices need to be high enough so supply can meet demand, and even a prolonged recession won't drop demand as much as supply will drop with low metal prices. Demand in the old Western world can continue to drop, but the emerging economies will need much more, especially after this slowdown is done. |
