The copper price, expressed in AUD is not all that different to what it has been for the past 10 years. The truth is the 1.4% Cu ore that nifty was mining at a run rate of around 1.5mtpa prior to being suspended is not going to work in any environment except maybe Cu over A$6/lb (US$4/lb).
So they can either wait till copper hits these prices or spend the significant capital to open up the higher grade zones away from the central mining zone and increase the mining rate (say 2.5mtpa run rate at 1.8% Cu ore). Whilst they sunk some significant capital into nifty already it is my understanding that much more is required to access those new higher grade reserves and increase production rates (more UG development, ventilation shafts etc). This along with now the restart costs (mobilising staff, building inventory/working capital) could be up toward $100m IMO.
It will be interesting to see the new JORC for nifty as some of the drill results late last year pointed toward some very thick high grade and profitable zones.
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