just some food for thought.on the second last announcement we...

just some food for thought.on the second last announcement we were informed about the costean exposing what they always suspected and hence the heading of the ann.:High grade copper from surface at las minerales. In fact we all saw it in colour print. So if you want to discuss stripping ratios, you have to actually talk about a ratio of 1 to none. As announced on the the 10th they are going to stockpile this material. It may not be as rich as 12m down but valuable enough for stockpiling.
So if we are now going to stockpile this ore we indeed need to dig a pretty big hole. presuming 2t per cubic meter of solid earth and 12 m deep we need a hole of about 700m x 300 m . 5000 000 :2 : 12 : 700= 300. That would be a nice hole over the high grade orebody of Las Minerales. Such a hole would indeed cost a lot of money. At $5 per meter, that would be $25m. However that money is not wasted as all ore has to be brought to the surface. It will off course not be treated to begin with as no doubt they will want to get to high grade stuff first. Yes, the money will have to be spent and it will cost the interest that could have been received on the money but c'est la vie.