RE: why is the stock price low?I think the other short term thing people are concerned about is maintaining production after this year. UMJ's current custom milling contract with Xstrata at the Strathcona Mill expires Jan 2012. Unless this contract is renewed/extended, production would come to a stop. Fortunately this is an unlikely scenario in my view. Management is in talks with Xstrata to not only continue custom milling operations, but to also potentially increase the tonnage rate. The Strathcona Mill should have enough excess capacity to support UMJ's 200,000 tonne operation with potential expansion for 400,000 tonnes.
Supporting article on the Strathcona Mill:
"Modifications will be made to the Strathcona Mill to handle the increased output from Nickel Rim South. These improvements will increase the mill's capacity from 2.78 million tonnes per year to 3.4 million. The expansion will provide more processing capacity for all existing Xstrata Nickel operations and future projects."
https://www.northbaynugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1179327
Another option for UMJ could be to instead send ore to Vale's Clarabelle Mill. This is speculation on my part as I have not heard nor inquired about this from the company. It is my understanding that this mill has excess capacity to host some custom milling as well.
You may be interested to see where the Shakespeare Mine is located relative to both of the mills in Sudbury. Xstrata's Strathcona Mill is adjacent to McCreedy West and Fraser. Vale's Clarabelle Mill is adjacent to Copper Cliff North and South.
https://mapper.infomine.com/maps/mapper/Default.aspx?SESSION=c03acae8-3652-11e0-8000-02004c4f4f50_en_7F0000010AFC0AFB0AFA&MAPNAME=MineMapRaster&ApplicationDefinition=Session:c03acae8-3652-11e0-8000-02004c4f4f50_en_7F0000010AFC0AFB0AFA//InfoMineMapMine.ApplicationDefinition&extent=-9642001.06927431,5309644.04155425,-8577281.5025915,6530330.40870185&mapid=Google%20Mapper&scale=10000000