$21 million market cap for LION now that the poor Loonie is going lower. Ludicrously small for this great project. Here's a good blog post from South Pacific News.
Lion One ready to start mining Tuvatu
There is no doubt that Tuvatu is one of the most promising, if not the most promising undeveloped gold project in the world at the moment. And one of the best for a long time. Just look at its location along the major pacific structure, host of many world class mineral deposits from Japan, through Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, then off through the Solomons, and then to Fiji. Few of those great deposits, or even Vatukoula in Fiji itself, which has already produced over 7 million ounces of gold (that’s US$8.4 billion at today’s gold price) had that amount of gold in their early days. The upside at Tuvatu both at depth, and along strike, as well as other prospects within a couple of km of the Tuvatu deposit is as good as any project in this part of the Pacific, and many of the Company’s prospects in the area highlight that. Whilst most companies are scrambling to save their cash, with little or no work being completed, Lion One seems to have marched forward at just the right time.The recently completed study is entitled as a preliminary economic study, but with a pre-feasibility study and a feasibility study having already been completed, as well as an exploration decline from which bulk samples were taken for metallurgical testwork,in addition to detailed mapping and sampling, this study is obviously just an update of the previous studies. My understanding is that the Company is ready to commence mining with fixed quotes for the process plant and much of the equipment. Their management has years of experience putting mineral deposits into production in many regions on the world, and in each case, it has been a real company maker. With the following parameters at US$1200/oz gold price, I would have thought financiers would be flocking to Lion One’s door, as this really is a no brainer.
pre production capital US$48.6 million
cash cost per ounce US$567
AISC per ounce US$779
av grade for the first 7 years 11.31 g/t Au
NPV (of starter mine) US$117 million
IRR 67%
and importantly, everything is permitted……everything.
