Any leakage will not run the sp past what a buyout would ever be worth.
Teck would also not be buying the company, just our share of Schaft Creek. If our share price ran up to $3 but Teck only wanted to pay $2 they could conceivably offer that and then we would have a value of $1 remaining with which to spinoff Desert Fox and the AZ projects.
When Elmer said stock price doesn't matter, it works two ways.
I was thinking about timing some more and according to our contract Teck has two more payments of $20 million to pay us when significant progress is made. Also, as we all know, Teck can pay up to $60 million pre-production without any dilution to Copper Fox' share and without Copper Fox having to pay them back.
So from this point on, under the JV, Teck would need to pay $95 million ($100 million less the $15 expended last year.) If Teck were to pay us $1 per share for our part of SC, then this $95 million would represent almost a quarter of that buyout cost. (I'm just picking a round number with the $1 here, not trying to suggest anything.)
Wouldn't it make more sense to buy us out and sell off a percentage to a paying partner rather than go ahead and spend that $95 million? Then the paying partner can share equally in the costs, and the financing which would allow Teck to maintain their important credit rating.
Once I had decided to take this project into production, that's what I would do. It hardly makes sense to spend the money first and then look for a partner.