SAM -
I agree with you there, but in times of peril companies are extremely cost conscious, which means they pay far more attention to what they are getting for the money and here, again AYSI is superior to any other supplier. And, although further expansions are unlikely at the moment, current operations require replacement of equipment and that is not going away.
BHP stated in RAWNOC's re-post of a Jan 20th article that Zinc and iron ore productions were up 35% (partly due to better grades) and 5% partly due to expansions. Those companies go about their business as planned if expansions promise better efficiency and therefore better margins and will temporarily shut down inefficient productions.
One other point that was not mentioned at all is that, if I recall correctly, the 2nd mill is supposed to operate more efficiently so the company could start operating the 2nd mill only increasing their margin during these tough times.
Just my two cents and trying to show two sides of each coin.
