I don't think there is any real need for a 43-101 at all...
China doesn't need it to condition their decisions. They have their own standards to consider in validating their participation in deals, and China's standards don't appear to include any silly bureaucratic "ass covering" requirements in exclusions of the historical data, etc. The 43-101 standard intends to protect retail investors... not corporate deal makers.
The requirement for the 43-101 work exists in prior agreements they've made... as was apparent in the HKHE deal...
But, the requirement that existed there seemed it was there mostly as a benefit for SRSR... not as a "project" requirement... and in part as a polite nod by China to the Canadians... showing respect for their process, etc.
It's clearly more of a benefit for SRSR than anyone else to have that be a part of the effort... as is apparent under the deal structure being discussed now...
SRSR is "carried" for a 20% interest... but, can participate to sustain their 49% interest ? To enable SRSR in sustaining the 49% interest, SRSR will need the utility of the BFS to enable them in seeking the funding... ? Even if Niostar were going to borrow the money from China to sustain that interest... they'd still need or want to have the 43-101 to support them in doing that ?
The work SRSR has been doing... appears it is more focused on meeting the Chinese requirements than 43-101 requirements. I think that makes obvious sense... given its a cheaper, shorter path to meeting Chinese standards than Canadian standards... so they should do the work to meet Chinese standards, first, do their deal with China, and then come back to doing the work on meeting Canadian standards...
Completion of the metallurgy work in China... will likely have the project exceeding Chinese "BFS" equivalent requirements ? So, its possible the need for doing that work may be a pop up 'requirement' coming from the bureaucracy on their side... that has to be addressed before they sign the deal ?
Pure speculation, of course... and still not a reason to be concerned about what the rocks have in them. The metallurgy studies aren't about "double checking assays" and they aren't really the "source of risk" that has been postured here, either, IMO. The rocks taken from the adit, won't be that different from the other rocks taken from the adit previously. Gulf Dominion reported on their work sampling the adit, including the metallurgy work done on those rocks... and that work has been checked at least twice, already... and repeatedly validated by independent reports, etc. Improved technology alone means there may be a couple of nice surprises reported from making the effort...
Having the work done will advance the project... and it will contribute to meeting the Canadian BFS requirements...
It may also be the last "check in the box" required to enable China in signing the deal that's being discussed...
I don't find either the sequence of events or the timing of them particularly surprising...
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
