Can someone who understands the economics of mining better than...

Can someone who understands the economics of mining better than I do have a stab at sticking a set best-guess pit shells over this image from the RIU slides?



For the mining cost of the OP, maybe just use the Productora 2016 PFS estimate (US$1.80/t of dirt moved) or Marimaca's Sept 2020 PEA (US$1.74/t) as a benchmark and look at $3 / 3.5 / 4 / 5 / 6 copper prices.

Low/no pre-strip and open pittable? Yes. But to what depth?

And what metal price and grade combination do we need for this orebody to be UG amenable below its OP?

If the UG is un-economic, won't the supposedly game-changing Cortadera acquisition just have added another Productora like OP mine with marginal economics (albeit with some capex and opex synergies from a joint development).

Ultimately, whether or not HCH end up being a good investment will come down to taking a view on how much of the massive resource, that they'll no doubt end up with, can be converted to reserves using sensible metal price assumptions.

Unlike with SOLG, we haven't (yet at least) had BHP and Newcrest tell us that they think there's serious conversion to reserves on the menu here.