Sigh. It's to do with cash flow. They have $15m in the bank. That equals 470,000 oz silver. Or 2.5 months' sales at the old forecast rate. Good.
Deliveries into hedging are now c. 50% of production. Yes, they are paying off the asset - but that is still 50% of revenues going to pay down debt.
So 50% of production revenues are available for total cash costs, which are operating cash costs plus admin and exploration cash costs. That means if total cash costs exceed $16 per ounce, they will be eating into the $15m in the bank.
Operating cash costs alone must be around $20/oz, as they have been mining, crushing and processing the forecast ore for two thirds the recovery. They will be operating at that level for "the next few months".
With the loan repayments, they have to be cash negative IMO. But they've enough spare cash for some months in which to find out what has really happened to the grades.
CCU Price at posting:
34.9¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
