Summary todate????
Even to a mining proffessional like myself this whole matter is confusing. Most of the recent posts here are well thought out and rational but lets look at this from a different perspective to try to evaluate the risk / reward. In my opinion the Snowden "custom mil the entire 10,000" is infinitely more accurate than the results that might be obtained from any tower sampling but both snowden and Strathcona are well known reputable organizations but Strathcona seems to have facts that are not being released to the public. Strathcona's statement that Pretium has been given the reasons for their withdrawal , almost demands that Pretium release these reasons . On going failure to do so leads to major suspicions.
Converesely todays market value of the company ( $500 milion) with the known reserves ( 6.6 million ounces ) implies a market value of $80 per ounce, Now this is somewhat higher than the $ 20-40 per ounce that projects have changed hands for over recent years but most of those projects did not have an advanced 43-101 ( Cost $1-2 million) nor a PEA nor bankable feasibility study ( Cost $5-10 million) . The fundamental question here is will the bulk sample results ( by whatever test is used) confirm the 6.6 million ounces?? Even if there is a small loss, ounces from the cleopatra would go someway to replacing the lost ounces.
In my opinion, the reward outweighs the risk. But I would be much happier if I knew the reasons for Strathconas withdrawal.