RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Quite Encouraging....JR, there will be tradeoffs no matter what decisions are made re. the future of NFG.
1) How long is one willing to wait for the payoff? Two years? Four years? Six years? More? The longer you wait, the more you'll need to make on your shares in the end to justify the lengthier delay in getting your cash or seeing the share price rise (time value of money principle - especially in an inflationary environment). However, given what we know to date, it's hard to imagine Keats / Golden Joint / Lotto not eventually becoming one of the most profitable zones in the world once a large mine is up and running and pouring gold provided the price of gold doesn't collapse.
2) Thus, does one want to go the GBR route (sell to an acquirer and make a good buck sooner) or the MOZ route (build a mine)?
If one wants to go the mine-building route, take a look at what MOZ has had to go through so far in trying to move forward with their Valentine Gold Project in Newfoundland - they still haven't even completed the permitting stage yet and they've been at it since the latter half of 2020. (Not picking on Newfoundland - just pointing out that both Queensway and Valentine are located in the same province re. provincial regulatory issues and permitting).
3) If instead one just wants to keep drilling and drilling and drilling for many more years to try and cover the enormous Queensway claims package both North and South, again, the payoff is delayed, no guarantee that zones similar to Keats / Golden Joint / Lotto will be found, and many, many more shares will likely be outstanding, requiring a higher and higher total takeout price from an acquirer to receive a given selling price per share. Getting accurate estimates on what lies beneath the surface across Queensway would be highly unlikely in my view within a two year time horizon, but the risk cuts both ways: There could be more jackpots, or their may be none or more average zones. In my view, negotiate the takeout price accordingly given what has been assayed to date at that time. I would imagine NFG's geologists and other experts would pull cores from the most promising areas anyway over the next 24 months.
Also, the longer one continues to drill, the more of a role any ongoing increase in expenses will play in the areas where NFG spends money, expecially if inflation continues to be an issue. I believe most diamond drills run on diesel fuel, which is typically more expensive than even premium gasoline. Figure in the renewal of existing drill contracts at likely significantly higher prices (what is the usual term for drill contracts? 1 year? - anyone know?), new contracts for additional drills over and above what NFG currently employs, increases in worker wages / staff salaries, increased costs in getting assays done (both traditional and the new PhotonAssay method), etc. etc. The more money the company spends for a given amount of goods and services received, the faster the cash on the balance sheet declines. If inflation is tamed in the near term re. the items NFG spends money on, the less of a problem expenses are. If what NFG finds with the additional drilling more than offsets the ongoing costs, again, all the better for NFG. The thing is, these are all unknowns. The nice thing is, if NFG does two more years of drilling, they'll have a better picture as to what they have on their hands before negotiating a possible takeout.