Livengood MineI think all the prep, staff hiring, and other expenses at Livengood is because Tower Hill expects to build and operate the mine by itself (or perhaps "is resigned to" is a better way to put it). The reason for this is that despite the price of gold, the big producers don't really seem to have a lot of unallocated cash right now. The following quote concerning Kinross, probably the most likely acquirer, is taken from a current article in Mineweb. I've edited it a little bit. "Tasiast" is in Mauritania (I had to look it up):
" 'The company now faces 36 months of hard engineering design work at Tasiast', Burt said....
...Responding to questions from analysts and fund managers in the Denver Gold Forum audience, Burt said Kinross would examine its portfolio and perhaps consider selling non-core assets."
I still think I'm holding a great investment, but the lay of the land now is such that IMO they will have to do it themselves, or, if they can swing it, maybe via JV.
People talk about the shortfall of gold production and I'm sure that's true, but there really is a lot going on out there chasing too little cash.