Electra in the announcements (which were very much an overview) by saying that they will produce 30,000 oz for the quarter it is telling you that they expect the feed grades to be high enough to meet these expectations at the current expected throughput. It is a simple equation: ore milled x feed grade x recovery yield = gold produced. The feed grade is from a blend of lower grade open cut and higher grade underground ore. It is critical to get the right mix of hard and soft ore to have efficient processing and good yields
Although the average grade for Cockburn is 4.6g/t this is a statistical average over the whole resource. During the mining operation planning decisions will be made dictating the most practical and cost effective way of extracting the valuable grades of ore. Discrete "ore blocks" will be mined in a predetermined sequence. A lot of information about this is gained during development drilling and even during the mining more can be learned about the nature of the load. One can expect head grades to vary at times but we can probably expect them to be a lot higher than the 4.6g/t average most of the time.
By telling us that the lower production in January is a result of ore scheduling tells us in simple terms that in January they still had some lower grade ore available coming from stockpiles or from the sequential blocks of ore from the mine. If you have mined it it has cost the company money to do so - no point in leaving it there if there is gold in it above waste parameters.
I agree the company could have explained the scheduling issue in more detail explaining that they would have available higher grade ore for processing due to the planned sequence of mining ore blocks.
It is important for holders of mining investments to educate yourself on some of the basics. I know I only have a very basic understanding of mining myself not being in the industry but I am learning all the time.
I think an important role that Hot Copper can play is an educational one. The more knowlegeable should try and assist by making posts that explain situations. The less knowlegable should ask questions. Also, don't be afraid of asking the Company questions, Send an email or make a phone call for an explanation - you will get a straight answer as long as your not digging for inside information.
I know there can be a bit of emotion involved when good money is at stake but lets make View's forum a useful one for interchange of opinion, questioning and explanation based on knowledge of mining, current and historical fact, information privy to you but happy to share etc.
VRE Price at posting:
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