I like the optimism of above people however we need to have a reality check. Mill is running above its nameplate and is reaching its max capacity as per previous presentations (~4.8Mt per annum). This equivalent to ~150koz annual production. If the head grade does not improve and hovers around 1g/t, then we cannot produce anymore gold due to plant capacity. From memory there is a high grade section in the reserve model deeper in the pit, we might be able to get there at some point this year and boost up the production by 10-20koz.
At the same time we are upgrading the processing plant to 5.5Mt/year, this is 115% of the current processing capacity - if the head grade stays the same, we will produce ~171koz/annum post plant upgrade. I believe this is what TIE management team is aiming for eventually.
Apart from gold price, the short term upsides are exploration targets & resource/reserve model update (this should come out soon) and we will be able to see how much gold APG/APG-ex would have. If this gets expanded to >1.3Moz, it might be worth to do a standalone mine (heap leach).
We have broken the resistance and are heading in an up trend. Let's hope Zhaojin put out a more attractive offer soon!
TIE Price at posting:
64.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
