Ann: AUZ secures funds to accelerate cobalt and nickel projects, page-342

Cheers for the opportunity to reply- at least try to be fair in your review & note that I did call it good, logistically speaking. I put the price sensitive comment up as an observation of how the price has been affected- not trying to tell the ASX how to do its thing. Call a rock an egg, you still can’t eat it. ( well, you can eat it but you can’t digest it & draw nutrients from it for our more pedantic friends ).

To try to imagine that no one will be interested in protecting the environment that lures many people to the Townsville area to begin with doesn’t beggar belief at all- it’s just your way of looking at it. Think of it like this- what is more important, over time, to the area? Tourism/attraction of new residents who may set up home there & thereby become contributors for a generation or more or a mine with a 15? 25? year lifetime?

How much of the money that Sconi could generate will go to the local council & state government?
Compare that to what they already receive & can go to the bank with from stamp duties ( Stamp Duty is something that VIC, NSW & even QL state gov’s are now addicted to & will have great trouble managing without if its flow lessens ).

I wouldn’t be surprised if more money comes & will come to the local council/state gov. from the tourism/residents than will from the mine. People needing houses are a long time boon in so many ways- charging them for water, sewerage, land rates, local business expansion based on resident’s needs & so on.

If your deposit is in the middle of nowhere you of course pay more for your logistics but there is almost no one around to say ‘hey- don’t cut that tree down!’ or ‘hey- where is the water seepage from your tailings dam etc going?’

Perhaps better familiarise yourself with the term ‘double edged sword’. For example a diamond mine in Sydney Harbour right next to the wharf at circular quay may look great as a stand-alone business proposition but when we consider what the local/state gov. might lose over time it’s not such a great thing.

If Sconi was a couple ridge lines away these things wouldn’t come to mind, but it isn’t & so they do.