Since the dissapointing follow up drill results at Polar Bear,...

Since the dissapointing follow up drill results at Polar Bear, the company has managed to maintain a consistent cash reserve of >$15m ($19.2m at the end of the September quarter).

Mark Bennett was able to monetise Polar Bear (and keep an interest in it) and abandon it before too much money was spent drilling out reserve ounces on the Project. It was never going to be a +1Moz Au Project once realised that the Monsoon intercepts were much narrower high grade zones of mineralisation.

The Scandinavian Projects look to me to be in more maturely explored terrains than S2R may have first thought and exploration targets are a real challenge. Hence Mark Bennett’s decision to look at Carlin. He is demonstrating that he will not let the company sit still and waste years of exploration funding on projects that likely won’t be developed.

The recent Todd River Resources (TRT) investment is another example of Mark Bennett spreading S2R’s portfolio, to give them meaningful exposure and a strategic position on the board of TRT. The recent intercepts by TRT are not compelling due to the depth of intersection but the width and grade should not be ignored for future potentially shallower drilling targets within the same ore system. The market hasn’t reacted to TRT and that is due to the number of shares on issue plus the depth of the exploration results. I think Mark Bennett just saw the stock at a very cheap price, with limited downside risk and an opportunity to monetise the project.

In the end you have to be a business first and an exploration company second. Otherwise, you will quickly become neither.