There was also a price upgrade to 6 dollars from none other than Bell Potter.

DVP has always been a rollercoaster ride for me from the days when it was still known as Venturex Resources and all the second guessing on what Northern Star and Bill Beament was going to do with that large holding. However it's reassuring to think that Bill is running this in a similar style to the early days of Northern Star resources treating this as a Business first than Mining and exploration alone.

I think we need another quarter before we finally see how things are going with Woodlawn. I'm still a bit nervous given previous setbacks with Heron Resources and I'm not that bullish in Zinc even if Bill can manage to turn a profit from the mine

Heron's main problems were that they were undercapitalised, the zinc price wasn't high enough for them, and they had a major dispute with their EPC contractor, Sedgman and had to raise more capital to finish the plant build; then couldn't service their debt. Heron awarded Sedgman the EPC contract for Woodlawn in May 2017 @edgescape - when the zinc price was rising nicely - as shown below:

But that rise did not last. The project was originally scheduled for completion in the December quarter of 2018, however there were construction delays, and by early March 2019, Sedgman reported the project was 98% complete, with commissioning at 63%. The project ran over time and budget, leading to disputes between Sedgman and Heron. The plant was subsequently put on care and maintenance (C&M) in March 2020 because of Heron's severe financial difficulties, with a new owner, Develop Global, restarting operations and completing a rebuild in 2025. Heron went into voluntary administration on July 16, 2021.

[US$/tonne, the above chart only goes up to March 31, 2026, whereas the one below goes up to today, 23rd April.]

Have a look at the recent rise in the zinc price:

[Currently US$3,457 per tonne]

A company like Develop could have been successful with Woodlawn back during the period that Heron were struggling with it, but Develop would not have used Sedgman and Develop have a lot more cash and far better management. One of the advantages of being cashed up is that Develop had (and continue to have) a much better plan for Woodlawn that involves spending more money up front. Woodlawn was a restart project for Heron - it had already previously been a working mine, and Heron’s concept for Woodlawn heavily relied on tailings re-processing as a core part of the mine plan, whereas Develop Global has largely shifted the strategic emphasis toward underground ore growth and mining, with tailings now more of a secondary or enabling component. While underground ore is more costly to dig up and get to the plant, the grades of copper and zinc are significantly higher than what's left in the old tailings.

So it's a far different approach that Bill has taken at Woodlawn, and it's paid off for him so far, and Woodlawn seems to be hitting its straps at a damn good time from a zinc price POV. The outlook for copper is pretty good too. Heron viewed Woodlawn more as a zinc mine. DVP are emphasising the copper more, because zinc still stinks for a lot of people despite the price now rising.

I came across this today - DVP's CFO is reasonably promotional as well (we know Bill always has been) - - - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mackinnon-60657972/

Not meaning to get all Biblical here, but DVP management have never been people that hide their light under a bushel.

There's also the Veolia Bioreactor above the Woodlawn site which also keeps me slightly awake at night. I wrote about it few years ago in one of my risks straws I believe the ground conditions around the Bioreactor also played a role in Heron's collapse.

Having said that I know Develop has developed the mine plan to minimise disturbance around there as much as possible.

At nearly $2bn market cap with raises here there and everywhere Dvp is already overvalued at the current price. Still also in disbelief one of my BTFD purchases more than a year ago after the ESS acquisition has yielded 100 percent return!