97% recovery...monster result, page-23

Morning all..

That was a good pickup on the plant scale discrepancy by 4theKids.. I've just printed out the Ann rather than try to read it on an iPhone.. .

A couple of possibilities here:

1) Yes.. it IS good policy to build a bigger mill than you need in order to cater for future expansion, however, I've never heard of anyone actually doing it. General policy is to minimise Startup CapEx and lever off production at a later date to expand the mill (which by then is invariably running at 180% capacity).

2) a 50tph mill is a bit puny: 100tph mill offers a few possibilities.. ie economy of scale (lower process and maintenance cost per tonne) and the ability to batch process the ore (better maintenance availability and 'mine surge' capacity).

3) a 100tph mill is double the throughput/output : is it possible this advance uprating of the mill is for another strategic reason? The higher output capacity might bring it onto the radar of other downstream consumers and go some way to securing better terms in an off-take agreement.. if So.. could that become the subject of another Ann in the near future?

Discuss

BT