RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Why does AE want to withhold 4Dan et al,
I agree with your assessment that Agnico-Eagle is hunting big game in Wyoming.
While 1 or 2 million ounces of gold, or gold equivalent, sounds like a lot, it really isn't for the big guys if one considers the startup costs and the costs to mine and process the ore.
Agnico-Eagle's 2010 annual report listed reserves of 21.3 million oz of gold. Production in 2010 was 987,609 oz. So, a 1 million oz reserve add only keeps the company treading water on total reserves. I have read from various sources that major mining companies now look at 5 million oz deposits as a minimum of sorts to really get the juices flowing.
The delay in 43-101 release seems to be designed, hopefully, to bump the reserve number into the drooling stage.
It is no sure thing that interest from proven operators like Goldcorp and Agnico means we are headed to the Promised Land. It does, however, up the odds of something good happening, in my opinion.
Now, we wait to see how the drilling goes, and when Evolving Gold and Agnico-Eagle are going to provide us the details on the joint-venture agreement we've been promised, first by the start of this month, and then by last Friday.