I agree with your post, I think that MLX did have the right idea but as you say, didn't do the met studies for heap leaching and sort of fell back into the default 'easiest' option and as you say - didn't have the commitment, and maybe were just overextended, and didn't have the time and expertise to execute their restart plan properly? Didn't help that the mine had been raped and pillaged by previous owners, and had some major geotechnical issues along with previous owners underinvestment in the project.
My comments about the old heap leach data could have been better worded, sure the Straits data would be better than nothing, but that was orebodies that have now been mined and with a SX-EW plant that CYM isn't going to use, so the data may not be all complete and may not be totally applicable might be a better way to express it. Obviously, SX-EW technology has also improved since the Straits days so there are differences to what they were doing which will affect the recoveries and the economics of the operation.
I agree with your comments about the difference between making copper concentrate (which is subject to all the massive transportation costs and vagaries of concentrate customers who are always trying to rip you off on contracts) vs producing pure copper cathode which is a higher value, more easily transported and less subject to smelter shenanigans.
CYM Price at posting:
21.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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