Luansobe Open Pit Calculation31 Jul 2025 18:03
Zambia (Galileo 75%, JV with Statunga 25%)
Ore Reserve: 5,600,000 tonnes @ 1% Cu (above 0.25% Cu cut-off).
Mine Life: 10 years est.
Annual Ore Mined: 560,000 tonnes
Head Grade: 1% Cu
Recovery: 90% (percentage of copper chemically extracted at the concentrator/plant)
Payable Metal: 95% (portion of contained copper paid for by smelter after refining deductions)
Payable Copper Produced/Year: 4,788 tonnes
Copper Price: $10,000/tonne
Annual Revenue: $47,880,000
Operating Cost/tonne: $20, split as: Mining $5, Processing $10, Transport $2, TC/RC $2, Royalties $1
Annual Operating Cost: $11,200,000
Annual Profit (pre-tax, pre-capex): $36,680,000
Profit/tonne: $65.50
Applying taxes or initial investment would reduce profit further as would a pure JV. A shorter mine life improves the NPV.
There is bigger and additional scope within the overall license area so it would seem a reasonable bet that GLE could sell off the open pit with the second mining license underground mine thrown in and the deeper underground potential as a shared interest. There are many options. No heavy lifting required from GLR. The external consultants will have other ideas. Impact on Market Cap could be significant.