d & d very positive, page-67

Japar,

I'm not sure what you're getting at.

(a) The context of my post was Loki's Post No. 9029948 concerning the Dec 2012 quarter, not the current quarter as referred to by your quote. The grinding equipment may have been "operating to design capacity" as of 8 January 2013, but it definitely wasn't in December 2012.

(b) I was - and remain - "sceptical" that the recovery rates reported for the last quarter were the maximum achievable. I think they can be improved. That's entirely consistent with the passage you quoted, which itself moots further improvements. What's more, PGI moots the possibility of such improvements in other recent announcements as well.

(c) The fact that the grinding plant is now reportedly "operating to design capacity" supports my case.

(d) The fact that the grinding plant is now operating to design capacity does not of itself imply that the performance envelope can't be adjusted to vary the balance of fineness versus throughput rates, with obvious implications for "fine tuning" subsequent circuits. Surely the intensity and duration of grinding are likely to be adjustable, and influential downstream.

(e) It makes little difference to me exactly how improvements to last-quarter recovery rates are achieved as long as they are. However, it seems to me that the grinding process has been, and is likely to continue as, the step in the process needing the most remediation and tuning.

(f) Whilst a particle size of 12 microns after grinding may have been originally specified, there seems reason to suspect that the test-based forecasts of plant parameters were flawed, raising the possibility that a better choice may be achieved over time. Again, I'm optimistic.

To summarise, I've given reasons for at least some optimism concerning the possibility of improvements in recovery rates over those reported for late Dec 2012, and I stand by them. I may well be in error, but you haven't made a dent in my logic at all as far as I can see. I respect your choice to be pessimistic about PGI, but I'm afraid I don't share your view.

Gravscan