Actually I don't mind Option 2, as ridiculous as it sounds - that would be a continuum of what they discovered with the tiny hammer mills in Dec/Jan- they were a success where HM3 has failed.
What we know now is that management have the hammer mills 1&2 (200kg and 400kg per hr) operating on 3 shifts per day, 5 days per week. These mills are inexpensive to maintain and will most likely be returning an ounce to the tonne of Mestre ore.
Along with the optimised plant (now operating on two shifts) running mixed grade and tails for whatever they can get at 15tph I think the small mills will show their worth especially if they fork out for another 2-3 hammer mills for the richest ore. That should be easy to separate out at the rom pad as the gold is visible in the ore.
By the way a month ago I asked JG how the 10 tonne sample for the CIL test was selected and he said it was straight off the rom pad, not cherry picked. The new area of Mestre 6 averaging 300+gpt is also being CIL tested - watch and wait lads n ladies
This show ain't over yet!