Firstly,it is not sensible to spend money on this endeavour till an offtake is arranged. PIO will have a good idea of the appetite Cabot and the new Chinese owners have for additional supply in the immediate future; I have no idea of this. I firmly believe that PIO already know where they have further caesium. The reports on drilling of Peg 8 South are very positive and are almost misleading and deceptive if there is no caesium there. Listen to the latert podcast by David Crook. He is leaving himself open to prosecution if there is no further caesium at the Dome. I think, from a general geological perspective, it is paramount to drill a few holes from the bottom of the existing open cut, if for nothing more than general knowledge of the geology and the fact that they can be drilled for perhaps a third of the cost of drilling from the surface. As well Pioneeer Dome is an area highly prospective for a whole suite of minerals, some of which are very valuable, including lithium. I simply don't have the knowledge to give any precise figure and the question really exposes a limited knowledge of the mineral exploration process. It is a re-iterative process. You complete a campaign of drilling, based on then existing knowledge of the geology. Based on the findings you design another drilling campaign, or possibly use other exploration techniques. I would be very disappointed if PIO committed more than $1M to a new drilling campaign at the Pioneer Dome. Any further commitment would be based on the results of that campaign, and the knowledge of the demand of the various minerals thought likely to be discovered. We already have a drilling campaign under way at Blair Dome. IIt could be that the results there are so compelling that resources are concentrated there. Sensible managers, and I believe that we have sensible managers at PIO, don't commit a major part of available funds to one drilling campaign from the start.
PIO Price at posting:
1.6¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held