I'll have a go at answering. I'm a little vague on some of the details and can't remember any of the correct terminology, but here goes.
In simple terms, if all goes according to plan, Irvine should be producing in late 2015 - early 2016. It's likely that this will be done through a setup whereby there is a ship mooring (had some special name I think???) located half way between Irvine and Cockatoo. There would be a couple of barges able to load the ship by running a continuous loop from the mooring to Irvine processing facility.
One of the other conversations I had also indicated that there might be any number of other possibilities in terms of ability to mix the ore from both islands to get the right mix to meet the market requirements. That is, if there was a sufficient premium being paid then the higher grade ore would be shipped but if the premium was reduced (as is the case now) then we would mix our ore to deliver lower grades (but more loads of it).
Just an aside, my understanding of the mixing process goes like this. If I take 1 tonne of 68.5% ore and mix it with 1 tonne of 55.5% ore, I end up with 2 tonnes of 62% ore. So we have the benefit of being able to take some of our high grade ore and some of our low grade ore, and mix it in whatever proportions we decide will give us the right grades for the market at the time of production.
So while it might be fair to say that Irvine Island has lost a bit of its gloss as the jewel in the crown, that's not really because it is not as valuable as it has always been, but more a matter that it is now being recognised as one of the many benefits that the whole Pluton story has in its bag of tricks.
Cheers
Badfish
PLV Price at posting:
21.6¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
