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All I'll say wrt the last half of the last sentence Ophidian is "Yes". That would indeed change things somewhat if it pans out :-)
Another thought Richam,
It could be possible that Wolf are "ore sorting" in parallel to conventional plant processing, thus providing additional "concentrated" low tonnage feed in a bid to squeeze more Tungsten through.
I would assume that would require an increase in mining rate and as such would reduce life further. This would lead to the question regarding Wolf's ability to mine at said higher rate from the one pit, especially at depth.
??
Richam,
I think the early 2015 reserve report quoted in the order of 35Mt ore. Back of a fag packet, I expect around 2Mt per year may have been fed into the plant over the last 3 years of operation (on average say), so take off about 6Mt which leaves 29Mt.
However, I'm guessing that the 2015 reserves were calculated based upon feasibility study cost assumptions, due to lack of anything more concrete pre-production, and, as stated therein, at metal prices similar to a those of a couple of months ago. So it would be reasonable to conclude that costs have been / are somewhat higher than those quoted in the feasibility report. As such, some of that reserve stated back in 2015, may now be non-viable cost wise.
Further, the ore has been stated to be more complex than anticipated in the feasibility which I presume has added to the woes of the plant and possibly metal yields.
How much of that remaining estimate of 29Mt will have to be disregarded due to economics, and in order to provide optimal feed for the plant, is anybodies guess.
If we assume that the plant keeps improving, as stated, and ~3.0 to 3.5Mt goes through each year from now on, I calculate that would give a Max life of 8 - 9 years. Somewhat less if the above stated economic and optimal ore feed are taken into account. Even if costs come under control, there's still the metal prices to consider.
I presume the pre-processing of ore is aimed at improving said ore feed and maximising life. However, surely pre-processing and this crusher trial will incur additional cost (compared with mining direct to the plant) thus making costs even higher ? I guess Wolf see it as a worthwhile exercise. I'm wondering how they are going to keep a lid on total operational costs going forward.
Just my thoughts.
Goldhanger,
You have absolutely no idea who I am or where I am. I think you'll find that it is you that is the fool pal.
Goldhanger.
Not what I said. I said there's some product that is high in certain radioactive elements which means it doesn't make the product spec requirements of some of the off-takers. It isn't a health and safety problem; just a product spec issue. The question was is it possible some of the plant production had been stockpiled. The answer was, I believe so due to some out of spec product being produced. It may have been blended down and sold by now.
And what on earth are you whining on about, disgruntled ex-employees ? I've no idea what you are babbling about.
Bulent,
Rude to me. You called me a Lying C the other day. Remember ? I'd never even heard of WRES until the week before last.
Now that's all I have to say on the matter. Let's move on.
Goldhanger,
Re:"when you look what this mine will produce over the next decade and beyond.....at least £1 billion. Of course well before then there is certain to be a tie- up with the Redmoor Mine plus an announcement before the end of this year regarding other minerals at Drakelands which are commercially viable. "
Redmoor ? Where did you get that notion. Wolf missed the boat there by not stsking a claim earlier.
Other commercially viable minerals ? Such as ? Some quartz aggregate ?
Next 10 years and beyond ? Can someone tell me please what the current reported mineable "Ore Reserves" are and divide them by plant feed/annum.
Just what have you been smoking my good man ? I'd love to see 20, 30 years left but it's a fact that such ore reserves have not been reported anywhere to date.
You have now answered my previous question to you Ophidian. I now know who you are talking about. Thx.
Bulent74: I KNOW both Ex and current Wolf employees. Please don't be so rude. It's not called for.
For the record, I wish nothing better than for the Drakelands project to be a success. A lot of jobs around here depend upon it being so. Let's hope that there's enough time left to pull it off.
There has been no new staff taken on board that are directly involved in the issues discussed here. Not in the past 12 months. I believe there have been some resignations. Thx.
I'd say that in that case there may be a bit of creative accounting going on at Wolf, however I wouldn't credit the current COO with the intelligence by all accounts.
Richam you are getting warm.
1.I hear there was a significant shipment returned without payment due to very high arsenic content recently.
2.Mining and processing costs are through the roof compared to the feasibility study.
3. Wolf have a major cashflow issue now.
4.Tin grade in plant ore feed is dependent upon where in the pit they are mining during a particular period.
You also need to consider the mining operation and not just the process plant. Plant will probably be on last water dregs by now also.