I sent Pierre an email asking about valuations and takeoversHere is his reply:
Pierre Lassonde, Chairman Emeritus and founder of Franco Nevada was recently saying that 90% of the value of an exploration comapny lies at the drill bit. Deep-South as a listed entity did not drill the project until we start the recent program. The previous step (43-101 resource estimation, metallurgy test work and PEA) to this drilling program were important to set the table for the program. We are confident to generate good results and unlock the valuation. Concerning the cost increase in going deeper, this will not happen before 40-50 years of mining. The PEA is based on the indicated resource, which is from surface to 225 meters deep. The inferred resource is down to 350 meters. The costs will remains quite the same down to this level.
It is difficult to say what percentage of the PEA would be the right one. In general, we should trade 5% to 10% of the NPV at PEA. About 20% at PFS and 35%to 40% at FS stage. If a large company wants the project a lot, then, we can expect quite higher valuations than those generalities.