Credit Suisse Note4 Nov 2019 07:30
This was mentioned back in June regards Macmahon
A blended future?
In a note published during Macmahon’s trading hiatus, Credit Suisse analysts painted a Telfer future beyond 2023 as a one-train rather than two-train operation where 9 million tonnes a year of pre-screened low-grade open-pit material was blended with 2 million tonnes per annum of much higher grade ore trucked in from a new underground mine at Havieron.
Meanwhile, Newcrest is getting on with trials of an ore-sorting plant that can discriminate between high- and low-grade ore. Work so far suggests screening can triple ore grades, making viable the one-mill plan.
The Credit Suisse case for a Telfer’s blended future is based, in part, on open-pit mining costs remaining “consistent with the past two years”. But it is more than apparent that this is not a case Macmahon can afford to live with.