RE: Townhall12 Dec 2025 19:13
What are people referring to by the gap, this stems back to the admin document and the 15 month mine plan all of that was processing.
The underground mine would have finished Sept/Oct had it not been for the "hand to mouth" / drill to operations routine. This is continuing but the time spread between drill and operations has lengthened giving the team to target further areas. This situation is getting better and better underground as time goes on.
The open pit is a different story, the West Dome pit would have finished by now, it relied on highish grade ore from stage 2 and 8. This bulk of ore could be seen in last years photos which I've shown in my presentations, by March this had practically gone and stage 2 took precedence in the base of the pit. This would have been ok but the cyclone flooded this stage and it was suspended. This meant production relied on the high grade ROM stockpiles which there were about 6 piles totalling about 9mt. These made up the shortfall while stage 2 got back in production, this is continuing at the moment. These ROM piles were due to last till March but were depleted for the reasons outlined.
Starting next June FY27 stage 7 was due to take over plus the use of the low grade stockpiles these have increased in tonnage overtime.
There is a theoretical gap between March and June.
Shaun seems to be suggesting the low grade ores from 7 which have become viable with rising prices instead of being sent to the dump mound they are being processed straight away. This is what Shaun is referring to when he says they are saving on costs by using these rather than the stockpiles.
The so called gap is being filled by low grade from stage 7.
FY27 main ore supply will come from stage 7 and the remnants of stage 2 where the base is diminishing in size plus the low grade stockpiles which are specifically on the west side of the West dome pit.
It will be hard to maintain 70-80koz per quarter using the low grades.
stage 7 cutback will be completed by June or before then 2 years of production while stage 2 extension cutbacks start and take 12-18 months or so to complete before the huge zone can start.
Hope that's as clear as mud π€£