Heart and head - as you and HR point out the kilt remark was not objective. I suppose I was letting cynicism get the better of me. When you've been in this game for a while you get to see a lot of 'sharp practice' and I've even been the victim of it myself once, sent into the mountains on the border with China with fake maps and data (all with official government stamps) to explore for a gold deposit that didn't exist. When we gave up the President's son-in-law (the property owner) merely pumped up the prospect again and sold the exploration rights to another willing bunch of get rich quick dupes and so on and so on...... The lack of transparency around MDMN and the lack of progress over the last decade is not conductive to viewing this prospect in a positive light.
But to return to objectivity and your question - ADL is effectively a blank sheet with very little verifiable information and none that complies with current standards; it is therefore a gamble for any company coming in to a potential JV. Major companies have no interest in deposits at this stage; they require bulk targets (around a billion tonnes plus) that are already at the feasibility stage and are on the ramp up to production. They may sometimes acquire well-documented prospects, but typically farm these out to juniors to bring, over a number of years, to FS stage with a buy-back option should the deposit come up to expectations (if not, you're left holding the baby).
Mid-tier companies, typically with one or more producing mines, may, depending on their individual financial positions, have some money set aside for exploration and acquisitions, but will tend to concentrate on areas close to current operations to feed existing infrastructure. If a deposit is sufficiently interesting they may look at some kind of JV, but I would say the lack of detail about ADL would make it too much of a gamble in these times when every dollar counts.
A junior would be your best bet, but the current financial climate means that most juniors are just clinging to life, unable to raise capital in the markets. Until that changes I think you'll find finding a partner very difficult.
The best option, which I've stated before, would be for MDMN to raise some exploration finance from existing and new shareholders. 2-3 million dollars would give you a budget to map the plateau, complete a thorough geochemical and geophysical survey and undertake some limited drilling on the best identified targets and have the whole project written up into a bankable report. With this in your back pocket you would have data, grades and tonnes on your side and would be able to negotiate a JV with the confidence of having definitive data on your side. Rather than go through an endless string of partners that never seem to deliver, surely it would be better to take the bull by the horns and do the job yourself and become a junior in your own right.
AI
