Firstly - a shout out to Calibre Mining Corp, our neighbours in Newfoundland, for releasing these excellent drill results. Secondly - I send a call out to everyone in the mining industry to give some thought and consideration to what I'm about to write regarding Calibre's acquisition of Marathon. Although I could end up being mistaken, I do have some conviction that this is a case study for why single asset producers, single asset developers, etc., should be part of larger organizations. Mining is tough work. We have many risks that we're managing on a daily basis. Frankly, the industry as a whole has done a great job to manage these risks and mitigate for them but shtuff still happens. With single asset developers, sadly as we have seen too many times to count, they tend to struggle through the development phase and these struggles destroy shareholder value. Again, shtuff happens. For this reason, the market is generally very unkind to developers and one can simply use the Lassonde curve as an illustration of how unkind the market can be. These conditions more often than not force these single asset developers into value destroying financings. Many of these companies also don't have the expertise to effectively engineer or build. Their studies are typically based off of the lowest cost estimate that fed into the studies to make the project economics look better for both equity and debt investors. The reality is that most projects fall well behind schedule and the costs end up being a lot more especially in inflationary environments such as the one we've been in for over a year. While in the development phase, single asset developers cannot afford to do much else other than focus on construction and allocate every penny to development. For 2, 3, 4 + years, any chance for new value creation is on hold. As we all know, time is money. One of the "nice-to-haves" for single asset developers is exploration. There is no capital for the geos to go find more ounces, better ounces. In some cases, there is no capital for even grade control drilling. Here we have Calibre, a company that has created some serious value for its shareholders over the past few years who has acquired a distressed businesss (as described above - debate if you want) with a great project, in a great jurisdiction. They've taken over the construction and while they build, they have the financial and technical means and desire to create even more value for shareholders through the drill bit. They are well funded, generate revenue and have a highly experienced team. Future single asset developers, producers take note. You're stronger together than you are alone. Do the right thing for shareholders. For everyone else, don't enable the rinse and repeat we have seen with single asset companies. #mining #investing #mininginvestment #responsiblemining
Calibre reports positive drill results one kilometre southwest of Valentine Gold Mine. More information at www.calibremining.com $CXB #CalibreMining #growingtogether #sustainability
Well put Sam!
Ben Armstrong
6mo
Really good call out Sam Pazuki, P.Eng, M.Fin!
Principal
5moGreat commentary Sam and very very relevant today given the market decimation of juniors in recent years 👍