The trial mining carried out by Navigator in early 2010 was from the Bruno pit, also in the Cardinia area, and with similar free dig characteristics to the Lewis pits. The close spaced drilling prior to mining indicated an estimated average grade of 1.7g/t, but the final reconciliation head grade after processing at the Gwalia plant was 2.83g/t - a grade uplift of 66%. So there is the possibility of a significant uplift in expectations.
Even taking into account the lower recovery from vat leaching (there was a 98% recovery from the St Barbara plant), the low costs associated with this indicate there will be substantial cash left after paying off the new investor, plus Waterton (for the loan to pay for the Navigator purchase), and repay the loan from Fritz. So this trial will pay off the obligations associated with the Nav purchase as well as proving up the feasibility of ongoing mining.
I'm a big supporter of the way the Kin team is approaching this - using the wealth they have in the ground to progress the project - rather than milking the pockets of shareholders and diluting our investment.
KIN Price at posting:
13.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
