RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: CaesarsreportAssuming the deal with Korea Zinc goes through, Woulfe would only get 49% of the NPV, which would be somewhere around $230 million.
On the other hand, the scoping study used an APT price of $250/mtu for the base case. If you're willing to use $300 the NPV for Woulfe's share would something like $380 million (if one believes that tungsten prices are headed back to their 2007 highs - I dont - the NPV will increase to an absurd amount).
In any case, I don't think the actual economics of the Sangdong mine will look very much like the scoping study, which used some fairly conservative assumptions (such as not being able to re-use the existing underground mine structures). Woulfe has consistently hinted at actual capex being lower than the scoping study, which would make the economics of the mine look better.
As for the time to production, Woulfe has talked about fast-tracking the mine to production, but in the press release about the JV, they seemed to be back to the original plan of first completing a feasibility study and only then beginning construction. I suspect we'll learn more once/if the deal with Korea Zinc is closed.
If they can confirm the historical resource at Muguk of ~600.000 oz au at reasonably high grades, then that should also add some value. I suspect that the $1.8 million Korea Zinc will invest in Muguk is earmarked for exactly that.
The Yeonwha lead-zinc mine also becomes a lot more interesting now that Woulfe is in business with one of the largest lead-zinc smelters in the world. Korea Zinc bought a zinc mine in Peru as little as two months ago, so it seems likely that they would be interested in a supply source right in their own backyard (if I recall there is some historical relationship between the Yeonwha mine and Korea Zinc, though I'm not sure about the details).
Strangely, while Yeonwha wasn't mentioned in Woulfe's press release about the JV, Korea Zinc seems to have bought a 40% stake in it according to their regulatory filings. See this Bloomberg report for instance:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-24/korea-zinc-to-invest-in-canada-s-woulfe-mining-units-update1-.html