Hi Mal,Short answer:Qu 1: Yes - there were periods of cost...

Hi Mal,
Short answer:
Qu 1: Yes - there were periods of cost inflation.
Qu 2: No - I do not have any specific information. The company said it was due to diesel prices rises and lower fuel rebates.
Longer answer:
C1 cash costs have fallen by more than 15% since Welborn was appointed ($94/t down to $77/t). I do not know whether they have dropped continuously quarter on quarter and am not sure why this would be relevant? What is relevant is that there has been a trend of sustained cost reduction which has been extremely important given the iron ore market.
Like your question on "the numerical specifics of the savings in expenditure" from the FN deal, I can't "explain specifically what was behind any cost rises". For that you should ask the company directly or read their reports. My guess is that the cost rises are the result of exactly what they identified in the relevant reports: diesel cost rises, lower fuel rebates, wage inflation, etc. the same things that have driven up the costs of all the miners.
The difference with fenix is that there has been a big drop in the biggest cost component: haulage.