| Great Lakes Graphite (GLK-V) should soon have its long-awaited resource estimate for the Lochaber graphite deposit in southwest Quebec. The company has been busy gathering additional information and its consulting geologists say they now have all the required data to complete the estimate. Mr. Ferguson, the company's chief marketing officer and its go-to man for promotional matters, says the resource estimate should be available soon. Great Lakes does not have a target date, but Mr. Ferguson has been telling investors it will be available this month and he says he "does not want to miss" his target. Mr. Ferguson says that Great Lakes will decide "how fast to move forward" once the estimate is complete, adding that a preliminary economic assessment is not in the cards, but a full feasibility study might be. Great Lakes has been contemplating a 500-tonne-per-day Lochaber mine and it thinks it can sell the graphite for $2,500 (U.S.) per tonne. (Those details are known to investors who viewed the company's April presentation, but not to those who peruse its May revision: the regulators fretted that investors might interpret the plan as being a real study, so they insisted on a change 379829.) Regardless, the plan is unchanged. Mr. Ferguson says Great Lakes will consider starting Lochaber as a small operation with a modest capital cost, as it does not want to pursue another "not very great financing" at current prices. As a result, a Lochaber mine would likely depend on cash flow from the company's other graphite venture: the Matheson micronization plant. |
