What I call that, williamcfd, is an ore of some description....

What I call that, williamcfd, is an ore of some description. There are two key questions: (1) What is the concentration of the commercially valuable minerals (be they rare earth, uranium, iron, copper, oil, salt, magnesium, you name it) in that ore (and, by extension, what would the company expect to be paid for the ore, or for the results from refining the ore); and (2) how much will it cost to get that ore out of the ground in a manner that complies with all local regulation? (Remember too that there's the marginal cost - the cost of pulling out a kilogram of ore once the mine is in operation - and the sunk cost, which is the cost of setting up the mine. The more viable ore there is down there, the less the sunk cost will be on a per kilo basis, potentially making a lower concentration worth mining if there's enough of it in the area.)

If the value of the ore is less than the cost of digging the ore out of the ground, it doesn't matter how much stuff is down there - it's a net loss to pull it out, and therefore it's worthless (at least for now; if the minerals go up in price, the equation can change.) If it's more than the cost of digging it out, they'll set up a mine and get to it, while hoping the prices stay high enough to keep the mine viable.

That's what it all boils down to, and that's why we're waiting for the drilling results: so we know whether or not what is down there is sufficient to setup a commercially viable mine. Nothing more, nothing less.

As for angry's comments on the two holes: Almost certainly. The first two holes should be sunk in areas where they think the concentration is most likely to be representative in some way of the body in general. That will give them a decent idea of what's down there, and what it's worth. Based upon those results, they can do one of three things: abandon the site as commercially unviable; order more drilling to get a better idea of what's down there; or start the process to get a mine setup.

In all honesty, I think the results from these drill holes will either result in them shutting up shop at this site, or announcing an extended drilling program to get a better idea of what's out there, rather than an intention to mine. An extended program would be very good news: it would mean that they think there's something out there, and want to position themselves so they can exploit it properly. It's also a good thing that they're keeping the drilling to only two sites - it keeps the costs down, and means they aren't wasting money on a potential fizzer. Time enough to expand the program if the initial results are positive; the minerals aren't going anywhere in a hurry.

As I've said on several occasions: keep a level head; don't get hot under the collar just because there's been no news for a couple of days; and have some patience. We aren't going to get results from this stock (be they positive or negative) for some time yet, although a positive drill result will see the share price jump noticeably, even if they only opt to drill more samples rather than set up a mine immediately. The timeframe for full value to be reached - assuming that there's something down there - is months, not days.