I have been wondering about the power supply and what gains there might be to make there. The original plan was for a BOOT contract for 6 1250kW diesel generators, 4 of which would operate continuously.
But the DFS did not say how much of the processing cost was attributed to power generation. Someone can jump in here if I have got this wrong, but according to back of my envelope diesel generation costs more than .30 per kWh. Kin's continuous use was to be 5 MW, which makes diesel generation the main component of the LOM processing costs - more than $100 million I think, assuming the price of diesel doesn't go through the roof. Say $13 million a year.
As I understand it miners are moving away from diesel to hybrid systems which can reduce costs considerably. For example, Resolute recently claimed they can reduce power costs by 40% by going to a hybrid system (
https://www.rml.com.au/uploads/7/2/0/8/72081691/1817105.pdf )
If the expanded reserve / mining plan extends the LOM then presumably the risk associated with diesel (price rises) increases and the benefits of hybrid systems are even greater.
Conclusion - revisiting the power supply has the potential to substantially improve the project economics and reduce risk, if I have got this right - there is a potential saving of more than the current MC.
(Definitely DYOR on this - my figure might be way off.)
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