The punishment could have been a lot worse and may still be."A...

The punishment could have been a lot worse and may still be.

"A wet pit floor bottom at Siana is a major issue, negatively influencing ore production rates and hampering proper ore grade control practice."

Ore extraction reduced and reduced ability to blend ore to ensure the plant is receiving a consistent grade of ore. Possible lower recovery rate and ore delivery.


"current management of water inflows...even with the new direct diesel driven pump performing well, does not deliver certainty"

Demonstrates that in spite of rainfall delaying construction a couple of years ago and water issues having been present for the last 12 months, that they failed to assess and implement a suitable hydrology solution.


"an RC drill rig has been mobilised to carry out in pit exploration drilling at the southern end of the pit to confirm the extent of recently exposed near surface mineralisation which is postulated to continue to depth based on deeper drilling information. The area, outside of the current resource, will provide an important alternative mining area other than the pit bottom in times of high rainfall in the interim period"

The new water management plan will take a while to implement.


"conduct a metallurgical audit"

This concerns me. Perhaps the ore recovery of 84-87% has been overestimated and the timbers from the old workings are not the reason for recoveries of 70-72%.