By Chris Berry (@cberry1)
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A great deal of attention has been placed recently on the resurgence in rare earth prices and the concomitant increase in share prices. Given the general bloodbath in the mining sector since 2011, this is extraordinarily welcome news. Nevertheless, it leaves one question unanswered: Is this enough? Specifically, is a double digit increase in underlying commodity prices enough to make specific projects “economic” and justify the start of a new cycle?
I think the answer in most cases is no, but this then raises a second question. The tailwind of select higher commodity prices (should they last) will undoubtedly help project economics, so how do you accurately value a company with no revenues, no cash flows, no operating history, and management with limited (or no) operational experience?
By Chris Berry
A Major Hurdle Cleared
When I wrote about EMC Metals (EMC:TSXV, EMMCF:OTCBB) last month, the main issue facing the company was clear: raise approximately $2.6 million by the end of June or risk losing control of the Nyngan scandium deposit. This $2.6 million was broken down in two pieces: AUD $1.4 million was due to EMC's former JV partner to complete the buyout of the JV and award EMC 100% ownership of the Nyngan deposit. In addition to this, $1.2 million was outstanding on a promissory note held by investors close to the company which was due at the end of this month and used Nyngan as collateral. Should EMC fail to raise sufficient funds, they risked losing control of Nyngan.
This would have been significant for a number of reasons including the fact that the deposit is truly world class - a phrase I despise, but I can't think of another way to describe it.
