Had a conversation with Mark (The DDN CEO) yesterday at the World Resource Conference in Vancouver.
The short story is they can't afford to proceed in the North without a partner.. so its effectively on hold.
They have spent 10 months seeking and obtaining viable gold plots.. they found the Washington state plots after looking at many just north of it in BC.. Mark believes the geology that has and is producing so well in BC flows south into washington state ..
Historical mining operations and current ones nearby the new properties mentioned in the last news release support this.
Mark explained to me that now that the company is working so close to vancouver and not in the barren north things will now move much faster.. and he expressed enthusiasm towards keeping investors closely informed and up to speed going forward. (I take this to mean ongoing up dates as they proceed in Washington State).
The company has essentially changed. Its now a new resource play in a sense.. the focus is on the Washington State property until and unless a partner is found to further explore DDN's existing properties up North..( Mark said he had been approached at the conferenceby players that can and want to explore for diamonds up north.. which is the point of these conferences.. whether anything becomes of these contacts we'll have to wait and see).
The company has just under a mill in the treasury or so and that's plenty to get to work on the new property. The property in washington State in question is privately owned.. down there private ownership entitles the owner to mineral rights too. Surface and underground. Its mining friendly.
So look at this as a new company .. the share price is reflecting the last ten months of uncertainty... and of course the lack of funding to continue in the North (Most of us liked DDN due to its dimaond play potential)
Mark explained to me the 'general time line' (surveying to choosing drill targets to drilling) on the new property.. and although it was a hypothetical discussion.. it would essentially mean weeks as opposed to years (Up north they have a couple of months a year to get the work done.. in Washington state his guys can rent a house as opposed to build a camp and they can get moving on things immediately.. he also explained that there is plenty of people looking to work there..its a hard hit area and employer friendly.... which i suspect means no problems with permits or labor if they do need to ramp up.
I suggest people give him a call..
Hopefully investors will see some drilling this summer in Washington state and assays to look forward to shortly thereafter.. as well as a partnership to proceed with the next phase of exploration and drilling up North.
So you need to ask your self if this share price will bolt or not upon news things are finally moving forward methodically.
Take Care!
InDaMoney :)