However, given its low elevation and proximity to infrastructure and resources, Medinah's Alto de Lipangue property holds strategic advantages over other more distant mining projects in Chile (e.g. Barrick's Pascua-Lama, Exeter's Caspiche, etc.) that are subject to far greater Capex requirements. When PM prices are lower, miners are far more concerned with the extraction cost per ounce and it makes more fiscal sense to table projects rather than develop properties at a loss. Projects that have or potentially have the lowest extraction cost per ounce will be in greater favor than those where the profits are minimal.
Your assertion that they were not interested in MDMN when gold was high is really only related to the general knowlege that JJ is impossible to deal with. Yep it is a big deal but it is my belief that new negotiations will change that premise and MDMN will become viable to anyone who wants to get the real stuff on a less costly basis. Mike