Ann: Quarterly Activities Report, page-138

I don't contribute much here as my knowledge of diamond mining if limited to my own research but one thing i do know about is moving dirt and lots of it.

Scrapers are designed to literally move mountains!

I employe 25+ operators which include 4 scrapers in the ACT on civil sub-division projects . I know we could push these nimble machines onto a 45 degree grade(as shown in Castles link) but it would not be safe IMO and not within our own SWMS guidelines. As for Aries comments, i am not sure if you even knows what a 5% grade is but 5% is what we in the earth moving business would consider flat ground. And a scraper will scrape/pick dirt easier moving downhill because of one very simple reason..GRAVITY. Which means less engine power is needed to dig the blade into the dirt.

My professional view on using scrapers on our LOM project(which is worth very little for a project i know little about real working specifics) is that it would only be possible during the dry season because of traction issues in the wet . IMO it would also only be only cost effective over a relatively short distance to the DMS.( maximum turnaround distance 4-5km)

It does make me wonder though.... what else of Aries's many "facts" are misleading???