deal constraints.....How big Arrow is might no longer matter. What might govern the type of deal and cap the dollar size of deal may be:
how much room there is in the uranium market for a mine at Arrow; how many pounds/year in an initial production plan; development cost of mine and mill at greenfields capacity; how nervous Areva and Cameco are about the bulk of their (high cost) reserves being tied up in Cigar Lake and McArthur River, and how nervous they might be about another party or competitor moving into the basin and acquiring or entering a jv on a very large, very long life, and lower cost deposit.
For BHP, Arrow could move them from about 5 mm lbs/year to 15-20 mmlbs/year.
Regarding any possible interest in NXE and Arrow from Rio Tinto, having essentially signed the Ranger uranium mine death warrant, recently shuttered the Rough Rider uranium development team and exploration in the basin, will Rio Tinto want to maintain their position as 3rd largest uranium producer, or will they exit the uranium space?
No doubt utilities will want to contract with a long life deposit AND have participation or some ownership, but not likely without a major uranium miner and refiiner as operator.
Overall, visibility on what might happen is poor, and going forward will take some very savvy stick handling from NXE managment and board.
Aside, all the above should tell those who don't already see it, FCU is a dead man walking....