I think your summary is about right. It is very easy in hindsight to say what should or should not have been done.
If the the GFC had not eventuated and the company had gone with the larger plant then we would have praised them for their vision in planning ahead and not letting the long lead time items result in delays that might otherwise have occurred.
But the GFC did occur and we have all been stuck with that.
The deal with Hanlong has been the salvation as far as MOL is concerned. Finance for explorer/ miners is still not easy to obtain even now, let alone when the molybdenum price was much lower and creditors were in retreat.
I understand that all the shareholdres are a bit twitchy about things but deals of this magnitude are not easy to pull off and meeting time deadlines when banks and foreign cultures are involved is always going to be problematic.
It is not surprising that Hanlong is to borrow the funds as large companies rarely have a spare $200m in their back pocket. The banks will want to look at their current and prospective cashflows and assets before leaping in.
In the longer term this company is a gem and one should give credit to the management team for ticking all the domestic boxes so systematically and having the foresight to see the potential of this little known metal some years ago.
Sometimes it is hard to be ahead of your time.
cheers,
Countryshares
MOL Price at posting:
85.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
