RE:RE:RE:Catch and KillI don't disagree with your logic inverornot. I also do not think CCO is in any sort of position for an NXE takeover. By Joint Venture I mean the provision of capital funding for the mine and mill required to produce from Arrow for a proportiional share of the output product. CCO has consistently done this over the years and many of the mines and Uranium facilities it operates are not 100% owned by them. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that they are thinking along these lines for replacement output once McArthur and Cigar are mined out in about 10 to 12 years time. I am also sure that Orano is also thinking the same.
I do think that the current NXE plan is to take Arrow into production but it will need some sort of funding to do that. That money must be raised before they even make a single dollar from selling product so it is always a risky time for a Junior and many just do not make it that far.
Having said all that this is a huge deposit and getting bigger by the year and I personally would really like to see NXE take it all the way to production without diluting shares.
If we had a 50-50 JV it means that NXE needs to fund only half the capex for the mine and this would be at a cost of losing half its revenue and profit in future years. If that occurs at a Uranium price north of $50 it will only affect future profitability and will not dilute shares much.
You are right though CCO is not ready to enter into such an arrangement yet.
Only time will tell.