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I have a much knowledge aboput what is happening at Newcrest as everyone else on here. Which is zero. As Paddy states the 5% is a no brainer. Not quite in those words. Yet a Newcrest board do not see it like that. The guy that championed Havieron is gone. Many other reasons why he has gone and none of the reasons could be due to Havieron. Only positive I can find is that after Sandeep has been pulled up for bullying that the board just rolled over and allowed Havieron to continue.
It would be a major embarrassment for Newcrest to shutdown Havieron.
It is obvious that Sandeep was pushed. Havieron is Sandeep's baby and if it is a dud, then Sandeep will have to fall on his sword. The 5% I guess was the boardroom saying no to Sandeep. This is not a positive. Why Sandeep left we can only guess? After allegations of bullying and we are now told changes in his behavior. I am surmising that the current board would have said no to any more Havireon investment if they disagreed with the economics. I also look at the other mines. Head grade is dire. They are doing more and more work for less and less gold. Havieron does have high grades. They new CEO could cancel the lot. Worrying times. It could also just be that after 9 years the company has decide dit is time for a new CEO.
Option 3 Havieron is a small asset? not a supermine? GGP full control, how would we pay for that. I find it hard to believe that all the money Newcrest has spent would be be thrown away. I read a while back about Telfer being the central mill for multiple satellite mines. All these mines pushing ore to Telfer. Explains why Newcrest are downplaying Havierons size. With Telfer as the mill. Newcrest may see Havieron as 1 of many satellite mines.
@Bamps. The statement I read said that the 1000m milestone was achieved in November. It could be November the first or the last day of November. No actual statement saying so many meters on a certain date. From a Newcrest shareholder point of view increasing decline length is good news. From our point of view increasing decline is good news. Why this secrecy about the decline. Does anyone know if we have a definitive distance on a set date? I may have missed it.
@Bamps
https://www.continental-industry.com/getmedia/5e46271d-d893-4da7-ad94-7b33afc17f74/CBG7836-En-Pocketlift.pdf
The pdf document in the link states 700m depth in a single stage for their latest generation. I get the feeling these guys have hit the proverbial 'Gold Mine' with this technology. System capable of reaching 1.5km depth is a single stage being proposed. They are targeting deep mines. I guess this is is were the big money is.
Using their Flexowell technology. he standard Pocketlift Type III reaches capacities up to 1500 m3/h and lift heights up to 700 m while new generation Pocketlift type II was developed for high capacities even up to 4000 m3/h. Different pocket widths for both systems allow a tailor made design exactly to customers requirements
Challenge of the future
In our latest feasibility study ContiTech shows that by placing one Pocketlift on top of the other it is possible to reach a vertical lift of 1000 m with a capacity of 1500 t/h. Additional excavation for the material transfer point can be minimized to standard bunker size.
I do not have the knowledge or experience to know if this can be used at Havieron. It tells me that this technology will make mining at depth cheaper opening up lots of resources that previously uneconomical. The BOD should be asking is this technology can be used and if not why not. Sending trucks down a hole 2km deep seems very expansive. A 3Km slopped inclined tunnel seems very expensive compared to a vertical shaft.
After Newcrest rejecting the 5% i am concerned. One of the issues is the depth of the mine. A truck @5km an hour would take an hour to reach the bottom of the ore body. A sloped incline to the deeps could be a tunnel 2/3 km long. A post recently showed a link to a vertical conveyor system. Might have been Bamps. The system is very clever. A conveyor belt is literally dropped down the vertical shaft. The weight and tension keeps the belt stable No scaffold or structure. Just a vertical shaft. The weight of the up and down belt balances out so only energy required is for lifting the ore. It has been in use since 1996. Single lengths of 700m are possible. 20m tons a year is easy using this system.
https://www.continental-industry.com/getmedia/5e46271d-d893-4da7-ad94-7b33afc17f74/CBG7836-En-Pocketlift.pdf
I know it has been posted before it tells be the even down 1.5km ore can be extracted using the system cheaply and reliably. No need for large trucks traveling up and down long tunnels.
I am trying to find the basic criteria Newcrest have for a Tier 1 mine. Each company has its own criteria and I know Newcrest has its own. Havieron passes I think on most, if not all of these.
It must be a Tier 1 jurisdiction.
It must be less than $800 ASIC. Defo.
Min gold output is 500koz. I think it can be as low as 350koz
lebugue-addick: What happens if the don not achieve that value or derisk the project?
Culpepper: Personally, this is all Newcrest. They decide to mine or not.
panama: I agree with all you statements. Still not feeling easy. The conditions I have seem for a Tier 1 mine and, Jurisdiction, 500koz a year for 15 years,. Future expansion and ASIC below $800. Is Havieron currently failing to meet any of these.
Newcrest really are a company with big fat Conservative C with neon lights.
They refused to buy the 5% when the prevailing opinion was they would. Seems they have a formula and the price for the 5% was to much. They have now extended the time for the PFS/DFS. Seems they need more confirmation about how much gold is at Havieron. This is worrying, I do have money invested. According to so many, Sprott etc, Havieron is a sure fire bet yet I do not feel Newcrest feel the same. Do not blame Sandeep. He my be a bully but the BOD are not a bunch of pushovers. I am guessing they want Havieron to meet a set of conditions. If it does not meet these conditions I guess Sandeep will have a job to get Havieron across the line. If Havieron does not go ahead Sandeep position will be untenable.
I find it hard to believe they will walk away from a tunnel to at least 6moz of gold. This could pay for the Telfer clean up. Never mind it is looking like a conservative 10moz gold mine. This itself will be a low ball estismate for its size.
Lost of board room stuff going on. One way to become CEO it by letting the current CEO fall on his sword. At this level BOD is all politics.
They will be mining that section in 10/15/20 years from now. Reaching the ore body is the big one. The faster the decline the more likely the PFS is a yes. A big positive,
In 40 days the decline has progressed by 196 meters. Nearly 5 meters a day. According to the histogram chart they are now doing over 2 meters a shift. I am assuming a shift is 8 hours. They could be doing around 8 meters a day.
The grades at depth are very good but they are so far out in the future I do not think they are adding much to the SP. The day we reach the ore body makes a big difference. I think the ore body is 2.4km. We have done 685m. Means we have 1715 meters left. Hitting ore body within a year, potentially as early as June. This is very good news.
I am reading it like that. You have to sit these guys in a room and ask 'Are we drilling and blasting? yes/no. This should mean a big increase in the declines progress. Still no actual distance but good news all the same.