Stock price when the opinion was issued
Has a massive project in Alaska which has been mired in controversy. It has had partners leave, big CapX spend, environmental sensitivities, etc. There was some rejuvenation when Trump was elected, because environment was a little bit less of an issue. He is at the point where he perceives mega projects are not desired anymore. Seniors have found a bit of religion in trying to focus on efficiencies, getting their house in order, and have been doing small acquisitions and trying to build future development projects on a more modular basis.
Has never owned this. The deposit was looked at by Rio Tinto and Anglo which spent a lot of money on it, but then both walked away. His investment thesis on any exploration or developing companies is for an eventual take out. When he sees 2 majors walking away from it, it makes him think twice. Also has problems with the economics as some of the high grades is much deeper.
(A Top Pick Dec 14/16. Up 13%.) One of those eternals that is desperately trying to become one of the world’s greatest copper/gold mines in Alaska. It has recently been affronted by criticisms from so-called EPA scientists who have not been given a chance to protest about certain permits being granted.
This has the Pebble deposit which has about 90 million ounces of resources, and copper to match that. It has been promoted pretty heavily as the Trump gold play, with the idea that with deregulation being easier, it will be permitted. You need to be aware that these mega projects are in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, the headwaters of the largest Salmon fisheries in North America. A difficult place to build a tailings facility. The CapX needed is $8-$12 billion. It has to include a deep-water port, a pipeline, energy, a road, plus all the infrastructure on-site. There is not enough detailed work done on this to make an assessment to decide if this is really economic or not.