Mining will be in progress in 1999.
The feasibility study will be fast tracked in-house by the Australian connection. They won't have to attract significant capital, so a lengthy due diligence won't be necessary. Also, capital requirments and lead time for construction will be REALLY small. You bring a backhoe on site and start digging !!! (Like Orapa, eh Alphonso, where srtipping ratio's are less than 0.5. But Debswana has 2 carats per tonne there, we can only hope). An economical reserve has to be identified, and it will, with in 8 months, after the bulk sample and ore definition drilling.
Longer schedule predictions are based on Debeers experience (they are never in a rush), and with remote locations. This is Alberta, but not just that. These guys know what they are doing, technically and politcally.
Read this again in September, 1999. Then think of me. I'll be on my back on a beach, on an island, in the Carribean !!! |
