RE:Root causeDon't beat urself up. Unless one spends countless hours on site, talking to managers, even engaging expert opinions themselves you'll never get the full picture. These things are not feasible for the small retail investor. Even billionaire investors make these mistakes. I've seen interviews with Rick Rule for example just months ago. He had nothing to say about VG.
I remember a few years ago I had invested in Americas Gold and Silver. It looked promising. Both Erick Sprott AND Pierre Lassonde had invested there and these are two of the biggest names in the business. We'll, the problems just kept coming with that company. The stacker broke down, the grades weren't as expected and on and on. A $1 stock went to a few pennies and never recovered.
I lost a bundle on SSR. Same problem...heap Leach failure.
I lost a bundle on Argonault. Massive cost overruns.
Great Panther. Another one that saw investments from some of the biggest players. With new process equipment it was going to have great success. Next thing you know it went bankrupt.
The more years I spend investing in miners the more I understand its a very high risk business
And on and on.