"With the Syama suphide operation not expected to improve until Syama u/g kicks in at end of year - operational risks are to the downside given stockpiled material wont change in character"
I don't think this statement encompasses the whole picture or what the company has been telegrraphing.
I'll just restate what I said in my post of 6/7 (please read below) and add also that its unclear if the pit stability issues will run all the way through to the commencement of production from the cave front. I'm no engineer but once caving commences the ground subsidence will presumably render any remaining ore at the base of the main Syama pit un-mineable. The company has however not said that the stability issues reported in the March quarter can't be resolved, so the possibility still remains that the company can still access the scheduled ore from the base of the pit between now and full production in Dec. It would be good to get some clarity in this respect as it probably makes some difference to the available cash going forward. Also the company has telegraphed mining from Tabokaroni (oxide) before Xmas. It's truly amazing how quickly some people lose sight of the positive catalysts and the potential.Esh
“Development ore production, which commenced in the September 2017 quarter, increased with underground ore of 64,448 tonnes (t) at 3.0 grams per tonne (g/t) Au mined (December 2017 quarter 30,665t @ 2.8 g/t). This underground development ore, and quantities of sulphide ore mined as part of satellite open pit oxide operations, will continue to augment and displace lower grade ore stockpiles as the circuit feed source during the development phase of the Syama Underground. Full underground operations are expected to commence in December 2018. Following a ramp”
They have almost doubled the tonnage of development ore coming out of the Syama UG mine between the Dec and March quarters and the grade of that ore has also marginally improved. Once again I’m no metallurgist but if you have twice the amount of development ore to use to augment and displace the low grade ores presummably this might help lift the recovery to more acceptable levels. Given the throughput was not a problem last quarter and actually was at a significant improvement the situation may not be as dire as the people who wear girls blouses around here are suggesting.
RSG Price at posting:
$1.35 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)