Ann: December 2018 Quarterly Activities Report, page-70

I like what Kevin O'Leary says in kitco.com about owning the best balance sheet,  ' “My new theme for 2019-2020 is balance sheet, it doesn’t matter which sector you are talking about, you want the best balance sheet in each sector,” O’Leary said, adding that it is more relevant now than the last three years.'  https://premium.kitco.com/news/2019-01-28/Ignore-The-Noise-Own-The-Best-Balance-Sheets-Kevin-O-Leary.html

In the recent few years, NST has certainly been that with a Return on Equity and Capital of around 24%, only 600 million odd shares, no debt but money in the bank, rising revenues and profit, all mines in tier 1 countries, fully franked dividend.  What could I ask for more as an investor when looking for a hedge against other shares in a risky market?  I also own a smaller number of EVN shares which I also like.

Now we just need to be patient to see if NST can prove their thesis on Pogo like all the other investments they have made.  Yes a little concerning with rising costs but as they say it is a temporary measure.  But that is more than likely what we will see over the coming years with most gold companies as all the easy, shallow deposits of gold have already been found.