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Doropo Pre-Feasibility Study Update
https://tools.eurolandir.com/tools/Pressreleases/GetPressRelease/?ID=4210671&lang=en-GB&companycode=au-cey&v=
Analyst Observations
Without having access to a full explanation in a technical report it is impossible to comment from a position of knowledge.
A resource grade of 1.5 g/t Au using conceptual pit on the basis of a gold price is very attractive, but I do not know how the gold occurs. Is it in narrow, high grade lenses. or in a stockwork? What is the prospective strip ratio? Did they cut high grade outliers? Etc., etc.
What strikes me as very odd is the large difference in grade between Indicated and Inferred. What has confidence (i.e. the density of drilling) got to do with grade?
Paul, Firstly I retired back in 2008 albeit I did some consulting for a number of years and Burkina wasn't/isn't a country that I have a great deal of experience and I have no first hand knowledge of Martin Horgan. I have however spoken to people who have met him and or been involved with mines that he has had some degrees of responsibility and I am told that he is extremely knowledgeable on all aspects of mining and that he is a straight talker and well respected.
What would I have done to sort out the possible collapse of the North Wall, to be honest I have no idea because it depends on how bad the fissure is but first priority is to stay very clear and get in the experts and I am not an expert.
This stopped the mining of the North Wall and from what I understand or remember this was the area that was necessary to meet production estimates as the grades were predicted to be 2 grammes per ounce.
There was at that time very little that could then be done to maintain production because there was limited alternative ore resources that could be mined.
As far as I am concerned I would have liked the mining contract reduced to less than 4 years but what I hear and read is that the 4 years is described as a blitz or fast track so guess 4 years was deemed as being the optimum.
Don't get me wrong I would rather that this waste contract didn't have to happen and without walking the mine with the guys on the ground it is really difficult to fully understand why they got into this situation.
I will give you my opinion because looking from the outside it seems as though the waste removal is really like opening up a new mine where there is no free dig.
I am going to try now to explain what the mine will look like before mining starts. Imagine a barren landscape with out crops of rock. Free dig means the earth has gold fines invisible to the human eye weathered through the centuries known as oxides. Easy and relatively cheap to process through simple leach pad technology.
No free dig means the need to clear the top levels of waste to get down to ore bearing material hopefully oxides but the deeper you go less likely it is weathered so start getting into transitional and sulfides which will be processed through the plant.
This waste removal will involve drill and blasting, construction of haul roads, laying down dump sites, as I say like opening up a new mine or pit with little or no return but necessary to get to the ore bearing material so in my view the quicker the better.
Kees Decker is a well respected analyst but even with all of his experience without spending time on the mine much of what he is saying is based on what he is able to glean from reports not first hand knowledge that he can gather from questions and looking at the operation.
I hope my maybe over simplistic response helps answer the questions that you asked of Cowichan.
Law 32 should, therefore, render the third-party challenge to the Concession Agreement inadmissible (as no final judgment has yet been given in that case), although the validity of Law 32 was challenged and has been under review by the Supreme Constitutional Court. The court finally issued judgment in the case on 14 January 2023, dismissing the various challenges and upholding the constitutionality of Law 32.
The Group's (Centamin)Egyptian lawyers have now filed an application to the Supreme Administrative Court to resume proceedings in the original appeal (this is a purely procedural step) and they will then make a further application to the Supreme Administrative Court, on behalf of PGM, asking the court to confirm that the original complainant had no capacity to bring the claim in the first place, as he was not a party to the Concession Agreement. They will ask the court to reject the case in its entirety and treat it as never having been filed. If that occurs, the earlier judgment at first instance would be cancelled and the appeal proceedings would be terminated.
…………
Siko
Thank you for any reply.
CENTAMIN forecast gold production for its 2023 financial year of between 450,000 to 480,000 ounces which, at the higher end of guidance, would represent a 9% advance on 2021, itself 6% higher than in 2020.
The UK-listed company operates the Sukari mine in Egypt, an asset that has underperformed in the past, but which Centamin CEO Martin Horgan intends to boost to 500,000 oz/year in output from 2024.
https://www.miningmx.com/trending/52844-centamin-targets-up-to-9-increase-in-sukaris-2023-gold-production/
Major stock indexes in Europe traded higher at the premarket on Wednesday as investors anticipated the latest data on inflation in the United Kingdom. Traders will also be paying close attention to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy reveal, scheduled for later today.
The DAX rose 0.30% at 7:40 am CET, while the CAC 40 gained 0.21% and the FTSE 100 edged up 0.12% at the same time. The Euro Stoxx 50 increased 0.22% simultaneously.
The euro was flat against the dollar at 7:42 am CET, selling for 1.07647. The pound traded 0.13% above the greenback and went for 1.22340 concurrently.
Baha Breaking News (BBN) / AY
Happy hump y’al
Mr T are you away from Cornwall or just sleeping very badly? X
Dasut, I was informed that Centamin may consider taking on some/all of the Capital plant at the end of the Sukari clear up to replace some older fleet and possibly to use on any other Egyptian mining operations.
Hi Dasut,
No doubt you know the business of running mining plant, a really expensive operation to cleat Sukari but I also take your point about deprecation and ongoing maintenance costs, also have to allow for the unexpected repairs.
Also you explained the importance of understanding the how to construct the right type or design of road system in order to optimise tucking efficiency and keep wear and to to a minimum.
Dasut--I apologise for this, but can you look back to my earlier post where I was asking cowichan about various aspects of the mine and give me your take on it please? I know we have a few mining professionals on here and sadly forgot that you were/ are one.
Thanks.
Brilliant posts, thanks both. I drop in on the CEY board from time to time to read comments on gold more broadly and to see how CEY is doing. I used to trade the stock a few years ago and held a few for a while. I am considering taking a position again and today's tumble caught my eye. Need to do some more research first though as the company is has been through the mill since I was last invested.
Thanks again.
SM
Along with their operators.
Dasut, being astute ,l would suspect , the buyer of Capitals rock trucks, would be their present site Sukari.
If of course the new prospects turn out to be decent grades and worth mining.
My thought is that the waste contract was decided as being the way to go before the earth moved and was rubber stamped and maybe even accelerated at that time because it was obvious that they had to mine low grade ore from one or two faces rather than having the flexibility of numerous faces which will be the case once the pit is opened up.
Also believe 4 year contract was how long it was calculated to move the waste material to get them to a flexible mining project.
Yes Capital are making good profits but at the same time they will have a 4 year old fleet of equipment when the contract finishes and unless the fleet is sold on or moved to another contract there will be costs involved.
Cowichan lets now move away from the mining aspect and talk about leasing a fleet of 150 ton mining trucks, 200 tonne Shovels etc which you give the impression is simple, so there is the cost of finance over the 4 years plus additional time getting the fleet back to the leasing company premises, the cost of transport too and from the company who has such a fleet in stock and is prepared to take the political risk into account when doing a cross border lease.
Might work in places like Canada, USA and maybe Australia but doubtful over 4 years and will certainly an expensive option.
Yes, but what % of operating will actually deflate and just not inflate less from now on? I guess fuel but what else?
Cowichan I am not misinterpreting anything I have heard Horgan's response to questions answered about how the tender was handled, accusations of bribes and why Centamin awarded the contract to Capital. He can't say more than he already has. Yes Centamin could do all of the things you say BUT you can't write off the cost of the earth moving fleet over four years and if they did guess who would be complaining that the waste fleet isn't viable.
Sorry if you feel I am foolish guess the new Centamin team are also far more foolish than yourself who obviously knows best.
I have been on many mines where they are owner miners several of those have been Majors and the inefficiencies have been such that after several years of struggling to perform they have turned to contract miners.
Contract Miners have to work to a cost per tonne and therefore believe me they are conscious of every detail and are the most demanding customers that I have ever dealt with.
Majors even junior mining companies have been known to employ Mining Engineers who struggle to understand the fundamentals of moving muck. Don't appreciate the nuances of the equipment and design haul roads and grades that equipment will struggle to climb. I have even seen hoppers designed to take the ore into a crusher that is too small to take the load of the truck that was eventually chosen to handle the ore (cart before the horse). I have had Motor Graders left off the equipment list and when asked why, they hadn't even thought about haul road maintenance, Front Shovel Loaders when the benches had been designed to take Excavators backhoe config. and the list goes on and don't get me talking about the waste dump area being badly managed.
I have also been on mines where they have gone from contract mining to owner mining but in all cases they have partnered with the local equipment dealer to operate a Maintenance and Repair Contract, so you might say still involves a contractor. I am told that one of those mines has actually reverted back to contract miner again because it was difficult to justify a replacement fleet as the life of mine couldn't justify the capital expenditure.
I however bow to your experience and knowledge Cowichan but would suggest "A little bit of knowledge can be dangerous".
Basically Centamin were "Up the creek without a paddle!" desperate to dig themselves out of a very deep pile of crap they had buried themselves in they really had nothing to negotiate and Capital had them over a barrel in every respect !
The other option was to try and obtain plant theme selves and then train the operators whilst the share price went down the lavatory and bearing in mind the mess they had already created so far who knows what further chaos would have developed at Sukari, so stuck between a pile of crap and a big crack what choice did they have but to go with the devil they knew and pass the tab onto the shareholders!
Its a mess no doubt and a very expensive one!
DASUT, kindly don't misrepresent what was said.
Since Centamin had the infrastructure in place to hire additional Egyptian drivers, train them on equipment they currently use, upkeep the equipment themselves, fuel the equipment themselves, lease more of the same model haul trucks, feed & house the workers themselves on site, monitor the progress in house - basically do everything they have been doing since start-up - in that case it is most definitely cheaper than hiring a 3rd party like Capital - who don't work without a return on their investment.
Obviously there are instances, many many instances where let's say a Canadian based miner wants to operate a mine in West Africa, and guess what, they have no assets in West Africa, so what do they do? They hire a 3rd party already familiar with mining the country. That is not what we are talking about at Sukari - and for you to suggest otherwise is foolish. Period.
Wow what a load of ranting by experts who have never visited a large mine let alone worked in or around a mine.
Was the waste contract justified and why was a contract awarded to Capital or any other contractor and not done in house?
It is always cheaper to owner mine against contractor mining very interesting please can someone explain to me why so many contract miners exist around the world?
Goldgnome I will let you have your say because I can almost feel your need to respond from here.
March 21, 2023 The Minister of Petroleum ends his visit to "Iqat" and prepares this morning to visit the Sukari mine
El-Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, announced the commencement of trials of operating commercial gold production from the Iqat mine in southern Egypt
during an inspection of the stages of work and production at the Iqat site, Al-Mulla explained that the site is characterized as a pure Egyptian investment in the field of gold exploration and exploitation through the Egyptian Shalateen Company
by starting commercial production operating experiments, has become the third site in Egypt that extracts gold - the minister also inspected the progress of the works and the progress of the gold production process, starting with drilling operations and transporting rocks with lorry from Mount Iqat to the crushing unit, grinding them and placing them in the basins for extraction, in preparation for the smelting and extraction of gold and the production of ingots
and indicated that initial ingots are being produced that are stamped through the Department of Stamping and Scales with the appropriate caliber for their quality or stamping the gold extracted from the mines and stamping it with the international code “9999”. In preparation for export or using it to increase Egypt's reserves of gold
https://elbarima.com/%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A7/
------------------------------------------>>>>
Above link has quite a few pictures
Weird that the article states the mine site pumps out refined gold - 'stamping it with the international code 9999' as if it's just a UPC symbol! Not likely a qualified refinery would be on site. Or perhaps the Egyptian Central Bank is going to prop up it reserves with quasi pure gold bars from in country? Wouldn't be surprised considering their financial situation.
Carnt see have this drop is justified along with other miners when gold high and costs are falling. When will it be gold miners time?
Email reply from Russ Mould regarding his misreported Centamin court case….
Thank you for getting in touch, Xxxxx,
I thought I read something about an appeal somewhere, but I will gladly double-check …. And I appreciate you keeping me on my toes.
With best regards,
Russ
Russ Mould?
|
AJ Bell Investment Director
Agreed Rebess,I
It's all very well claiming on the company website that this is a "Reset", but whats really changed, still promises of good times coming if we are patient, albeit at twice the cost, with a share price that's halved and a dividend that's quartered!
How many of the BOD who presided over the past decade of high grading by knowingly condoling the mismanagement of Sukari along with the approval of wasting of many millions of dollars on drilling in West Africa for no return are still in post?
But then what's new!
Centamin's commercial viability is now dependent upon exceptional gold prices the profits from which are greedily gobbled up by Capitals waste clearance contract !
Just scraps and promises for us share holders!
The long time-horizons for recovery, laid down by Horgan, have sentenced shareholders to serve their punishment with hard-labour.
I've never known the likes before. - It's understandable for a junior explorer perhaps to indicate such time horizons linked to progress/expansion, but for an established company, it is sounding the death-knell. - It's almost as though they were engaging in some sort of control-mechanism over the share-price as part of an agenda going forward. - Time and Tide will tell. - IMO