Walterc (post #22845) & Husker1854 (post #22863) made well reasoned posts. Personally I've had a minor adjustment of my opinion about the late FS. While disappointing in one aspect, it may also be a benefit in another aspect.
I have been following this intently since the Quantum days and bought in my first round when we were at US$0.38. Having grown up in Nebraska about an hour north west of Omaha I have a fondness for the area & appreciation about the type of people the locals are. I played high school football against Humbolt & Stella just east of Elk Creek.
I was a submarine officer while on active duty & maybe that gives me a somewhat different perspective. When submerged, there are many unknowns out there. You can't see anything. We don't usually send out active pings (like in the movies) but rather passively listen for things. There are always unknowns. What if I just can't hear the foreign submarine that's following me? Have I checked my baffles sufficiently? What if I can't hear the sailboat with nothing running when I come to periscope depth? What if everything is fine & I'm just being overly cautious? If I do hear something, I know what direction it is coming from, but the range is always a question. Is it a faint sound because it is loud & far away or close & a quiet faint sound?
Most of the time you have to work with what you know which is an incomplete picture. Trust in what you know you know. Be wary of things you don't know and prepared to react to them when they become known. Make decisions based upon your knowledge and best judgement. Understand that not everything will blatantly obvious & you will have to infer things based upon dispersed data points.
While I share the frustration of the FS being late here are some things that give me faith:
1. People with much more detailed information than I have through their DD are investing much more than I have in the company based upon the response of the recent PP. Even more than the company anticipated.
2. MS has consistently invested his own money (granted, the loans were at very friendly rates) and his best reward is the success of the company and not his salary alone. He's motivated to make the company succeed and not to just collect a paycheck.
3. The mine should be cash flow positive from niobium alone & 75% of that is already under contract. Scandium & titanium are bonus money.
4. CAPEX & OPEX reductions from the nearly US$1B has been reported from: no longer need railway, recycling many processing materials, & reusing tailings. How much reduction may be debated, but still a positive sign.
5. Environmental concerns have been greatly reduced which derisks the project.
6. Similarly permitting risks seem to have been reduced (due to the above) as well as a more friendly presidential administration lowers the risks to the project as well.
Finally, my reduced concern about the delay of the FS is based upon the question: If the FS were released and positive, what is the next step?
Financing the nearly US$1B (in stages as MS has stated). How are we going to do that? While there are several options, some are better than others. I work in government contracting so I understand how nothing happens quickly with government money. There is currently no program to fund the many projects that the Trump administration says they want to support. So maybe this FS delay is a blessing in disguise. Yes I would like an update on the FS, but that is a frustration and minor concern. There are lots of pretty solid reasons to still believe in the positives of the project.
A U.S. government loan with business friendly terms could seriously reduce the cost of financing the mine construction without dilution. I can't state how huge I think that could be for the shareholders.
If no loan program happens, then nothing has changed with respect to how Niocorp has been operating and we continue on with the same plan. Therefore no additional risk if there is no government loan program and we just carry on with business.
So for me, there are enough positives to outweigh the concerns I have about delays to FS and lack of news. So I'll continue on the mission because it seems to me that the long term rewards are far more significant than the risks and short term frustrations.
GLTAL
