These guys were effectively drawing dead, just pulling fees,...

These guys were effectively drawing dead, just pulling fees, selling the dream to keep the lights on for another 12 months in the post boom iron ore market. At the time the market wanted to back a plus $1B low grade high tonne mine like a hole in the head.

Fast forward a bit with the Chinese and others pushing for higher grade (cleaner less polluting higher efficiency) iron ore products to produce steel with less waste has seen premiums creep higher and higher still. If 65% fines is around 95/t then CAP product could be US$120/t give or take, certainly more than US$100/t.

The resource is crap, but everything else is very good, port, power, water, people, tax, rail which I would rather than the other way around. Still difficult to push towards production but the market has given them an ace. JV or alternative finance to move to a mine finance decision does not sound that far fetched now.