Comparisons28 Feb 2023 22:40
How can you compare Havieron with other large mines?
Let’s have a look at Cadia where they are ramping up to 35m tons
Indicated resources only
2,600mt 0.35g/t and 0.26%
Havieron
28mt 3.2g/t and 0.51%
Looks no comparison Cadia looks miles better and is one of the Worlds major mines.
35m tons pa at 0.36g/t is 405,000oz
3mt tons pa at 3.2g/t is 302,000oz
So just looking at the gold the cost to produce 405,000oz at Cadia is way way higher than Havieron, but the copper silver and molybdenum brings the costs down to a negative AISC.
Looking at Red Chris the difference is startling 36x more ore to produce similar amounts as Havieron.
This is all to do with the high grade ore.
The weaker ores are not yet in any resources at Havieron , this won’t happen till they’re confident in the estimation.
The cut offs are 1g/t, at Red Chris they’re 0.1g/t
High grade estimation in complex sulphides is very complicated and needs more drilling to confirm estimates.
Estimating in low grade ores is less complicated and needs less drilling to confirm estimates.
At Brucejack they’ve just announced a lower cut off, this will reduce grades but give estimations more confidence .
This will happen at Havieron at some point, but the high grade mine is far more valuable and far more economical than most low grade mines.