RE: Drinks12 Jun 2026 09:20
I attended.
I didn't really learn much that I didn't already know but I was impressed by Alex. He's competent, engaging and aligned with our interests. He's committed to avoid dilution and to progress only the most cost effective projects that he comes across. He had very good words for our chinese partners, Endeavour and the new board member. I have even more confidence than before and I topped up again this morning.
Perhaps what I had not appreciated before is that the development of Rulika is a bit tricky as there is a village on part of the licence and it could take time to get drilling permits. He says that the local community is supportive though. A JV or a partnership could be the way forward if someone with more experience in navigating the system comes along. Numbers are great.
He then showed some back of the envelope calculations, just to give a ballpark idea of what Verkhuba and Rulika could be worth once in production. Once Xinhai start delivering on their milestones the SP will take care of itself as more and more investors will be convinced about the viability of the project and the quality of EST and of its management. It's just a matter of months.
Also I get the impression that we are not going to see much drilling outside of the Endeavour JV as we don't want to dilute shareholders, especially at this stage. The good news is that opex costs are very low and there is no need to raise capital.