IKN

Take physic, pomp

How do you solve a problem like Integra (ITR.v)?

Answer: You do some spincos.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out the moment the market walked away from Integra Resources (ITR.v):

And it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to find the motive for the collective back-turning:

February 9, 2022: Integra Completes Pre-Feasibility Study For Delamar Project With Average Annual Production Of 163,000 Oz AuEq For The First 8 Yrs, And Demonstrates Project Optionality With Phased Development Approach

The company’s chosen path didn’t please the money, because after all that huffing and puffing all we got from the PFS was…

…a medium-sized project, certainly not up to the scale of its Delamar property and no matter whether small, medium, large or world-class, whether oxide, sulphide, open pit bulk or bonanza epithermal veins, we’re in Idaho here and the permitting track will take years and years. Long story short, ITR didn’t go big and the market went home but the thing is…

…Delamar really is big. In fact it’s massive and many areas are highly prospective, with multiple target zones already identified and the potential to scale up to something akin to a mining camp all by itself. This recent PFS does beg the question as to why ITR bothered to drill…

  • …the sulphides
  • …Black Sheep
  • …Sullivan’s Gulch
  • …War Eagle
  • …the back side of Florida Canyon
  • …the back side of Delamar
  • …etc

…through the whole development process if at the end, all they deliver is a PFS on low grade oxides and some of the transitory material from the two known and previously mined locations. The verdict of Mr. Market is crystal clear, the plan and ITR shares were sold down to 0.2X NPV in less time than it takes to write another “The Art of M&A” essay. Long story short, ITR screwed up on strategy and the result is today’s PPS.

So what to do? Here’s IKN’s modest proposal: With a PFS in-hand, they’re going to look daft by backpedalling and starting from scratch with a larger project via a PEA and one company cannot play concurrent economic studies on the same property. The answer, for me at least, is to take a leaf out of the Lundin’s books and do what they did at their massive Vicuñas/Helados project, up there where Chile meets Argentina. Those smart Lundins chopped Vicuñas up into some very successful pieces, companies we now know as Filo Mining, Josemaria, NGEx (and holy maloney, check out the value add on those gigs). There’s no reason why Integra cannot do something similar, as the absolute size of Delamar lends itself to spincos. You could even play spinco with the geology because once the lawyers are done, you could reasonably have…

  • Integra Resources (ITR.v) and its current DLM/FC project under PFS
  • Integra Sulphides, in control of the underlying rocks and a long-term value add
  • Integra Sheep, sticking some drills into sinters
  • Integra Eagle, chasing a massive win using epithermal theory

Or however else they’d like to split the whole up. With spincos, ITR gets to keep its current PFS and move it forward while unlocking the obvious value of its concession that was talked up by management for years, but hasn’t added a bean to ITR’s share price (and in fact has become a liability in drilling costs that have gone nowhere). Meanwhile the spincos give directors seats for their backsides (and a few of their friends to boot) and we know retail shareholders love “free shares”. A win-win-win, and all home in time for tea and cake at five.

Disclosure: No position.

6 Comments

    No position either, but I’ve visited. Good high grade potential, but long time frame to convert and develop low tonnage/high margin ug ops. Meanwhile, these LG results look fine. And your suggested strategy is sensible. Might have a position by next week!

    Reply

    Sold out after a completely underwhelming PFS. The size & scope are definitely appealing but the approach doesn’t make sense. All we got was confirmation that the old pits still have some gold/silver in them & there’s a bunch of sulphide ore after the somewhat low grade oxide ore on top. Agree that some breakoffs might allow for a more focused approach.

    I will be interested should the company hit $1 or there actually some semblance of a cohesive plan.

    Reply

    Another George Salami special. Cheating shareholders one miner at a time. But every time. Stay clear of this lying thief.

    Reply

    […] “How do you solve a problem like Integra?” dated March 22nd, this humble corner of cyberspace offered up an idea or two on how to turn […]

    Reply

    […] for the orignal market disdain for its PFS, captured in this short phrase from our post in March, “Long story short, ITR didn’t go big and the market went home“. Whether they ignore it deliberately or not is up to you, but all the nonsense about “Oh, […]

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