RE:Doing some thinking
this is all about anyone other than Sibanye taking the risks to move the project forward. The money for the drilling, PEA, & FS are peanuts to them but still, should anything prevent this from reaching operation they didnt pay for those. This looks like a lock, right? Only in mining, there is always the very real risk something will prevent reaching operational status. So Sibanye gave GENMF a cherry deal, they really did, but they also freed themselves from short term risk. Why give anyone an additional 30% of a monster deposit for spending a few tens of millions? Because maybe it never comes to fruition. Maybe the last population of Brush-footed whisker salamanders are found on site. Maybe a technical problem that cannot be overcome would have been found in the PEA. Maybe a First Nation objects to construction & operation half way through the project. If everything falls in to place, Sibanye will buy back their share for around $135 million, after all possible obstacles are eliminated. That is a lot of money, but not too much, & apparently worth it to them. If Sibanye does not buy out GENMF's remaining half, GENMF will be sure to receive other entertaining offers. It's a long haul from discovery to production, & in this case Sibanye offered GENMF the deal of a lifetime simply for bearing risk & development cost.