Of course ES would say that. He isn't going to say it was worse.
I know I am not vette but I'll try and answer your question. According to your quote, ES would also need to apply the same logic to the current agreement. Yeah 3x expenditures are coming back to Teck in the previous agreement but it is also going back to them under the current agreement, that is 75% of the pre-production expenses of $60 million, or $45 million. Leaving Copper Fox with $15 million.
However, more importantly, you have to look at how much value the actually dollars will unlock by further exploration and improving the economics. It isn't necessarily a one to one correlation so it is tough to gauge for sure. $88 million has been spent on SC but CUU's market cap is ~$250 million.
I think the emphasis is on the cash payments as that is crucial, especially in the current economic climate. Also time value of money plays a huge role.
Ultimately, throwing out the inherent moth-ball clause that was baked into the previous agreement is the biggest issue IMO. If you feel that Teck will deal fairly with Copper Fox then this is less of a concern.
