what will it take , page-31

Dutybound,

it was the comment from June annual that got me interested,especially given the drop in power cost in Sept QTR.They said words to the effect,the existing plant can be "Upgraded" releasing "additional" hired generators onsite.

This could simply mean beyond the planned hired generators,it would be interesting to know.
I suspect the planned generation capacity did not run the plant,so additional ones were hired.That could be a relatively cheap fix.

I wasn't aware of the age of the generation plant,however,if it is that old,i doubt whether it would have adequate power factor correction initially,or that that was part of any plant planning to install switchable PF correction appropriate to the planned plant,in which case,by installation of the appropriate equipment,you could find less generation required for the same amount of power available to be utilized by the plant for the same diesel consumed.

The old plant acquired could also be underrated for a number of reasons also,including insufficient cooling,in a hot environment and also generators over heating due to running with poor power correction,or poor diesel motor cooling.It could also be as simple as connecting infrastructure from the generators,having a lower rating,not able to handle more.

These are cheaply correctable and not what would be expected to take 6 months as indicated,unless there were uncomfortable logistics involved,due to the age of the plant.Getting upgraded generator parts for obsolete units made for example.

Put simply,if the Power factor was say .65 running heavily inductive motors,for crushers etc,which means the voltage and current are not in Phase,then you would only be utilizing say 65% of the potential power generated.The rest is lost in heat in motors etc.e.g. Motors rated at 30kw would be giving you an effective 20kw output power.

Appropriate power factor correction which is fairly cheap install versus generation capacity,could take that nearer to .9 and in essence you get 50% more usable energy for the same generation and stop wiring cooking.This also increases the carrying capacity of existing wiring infrastructure.

$1.5M per MW for permanent generation capacity and infrastructure groundworks sounds about right for rural Australia for diesel installs i believe.

A small industrial factory i worked in 30yrs ago installed a PF correction system which was pretty radical back then and saw its city power cost drop by 10% and it was central city based and was only correcting anywhere from around .85 to .95 dependent on grid load and time of day grid power.

As they say until we actually know something we know nothing.All supposition.

However,the big drop in cash in October,if it wasn't directly production expenses,could easily have met some costs of upgrades.
The power cost drop of 7% in SEPT QTR hopefully is more ongoing,hopefully another 7% to come,working on it only occurring midway thru the SEPT QTR.That could be another 90c/ton milled or $500k a QTR i hope.

As always DYOR+DYODD - but 38yr old plant,i can imagine comparable plant having had incremental upgrades both to output with essentially the same diesel/generator combinations and fuel efficiency over that time.
Pictures i have seen,i would have picked it anywhere between a 3 and 5MW install. 2.2Mw mmm got me wondering,8 units 275kw each.That would be a standby rating i imagine.250kw their standard load rating.i.e.2MW.If they are Cummins the current models PF rating is .8 before you tack any loads on it,to drop it further,so 15% more useable energy available with appropriate power factor correction could be quite simple upgrade.
That would take each generator closer to the 344KVA rating .9PF = Just under 310KW or x 8 = 2.5MW
.95 to 325KW x 8 = 2.6MW

Secondhand Cummins 275kw units are peanuts in America at the moment due to new emission requirements.
These sound like they are just normally used as cheap standby power units in the US many secondhand ones with no or little hours on them.
You'd be surprised how cheap,worth a google look.
Logistics?

Just opinions and thoughts of course.