3-5g/t would not be a large chunk of the ore, I expect.The pit...

3-5g/t would not be a large chunk of the ore, I expect.

The pit sizes would be extended until an optimal point is reached, where profit is maximized. In the case of Chatree, it gets grade down to 0.6g/t with a large plant (with temporary jumps above 0.6g/t, like now/soon).

If adding in some additional 7km transportation costs, it may demand a grade of 0.8g/t instead. So it's sub-optimal designing small pits for 2g/t and leaving lots of gold behind. The pits would be enlarged until 0.8g/t is reached (in which case, 3-5g/t ore is definitely a minority in the pits).



"It would obviously make sense to sort the ore at the source so that the highest grades are transported first. Maybe that wouldpay for a conveyer.In any case, 7 km is a significant transport distance."

At least it would be a simple calculation for management to undertake.

- Check transportation cost.
- Check sorting costs and CAPEX.
- See which is cheaper.

NVA:ASX have sorters in their scoping studies. Though they say sorting is feasible because the gold mostly falls within veins (arsenopyrite, I think), so can be easily X-ray sorted out. That lets them upgrade from 0.3g/t to 1g/t (fairly optimal) or up to 6g/t (not optimal, because say 70% of the gold gets rejected as waste).