Transport logistics to port do add to costs, but that was known...

Transport logistics to port do add to costs, but that was known from the start and one of the factors that cannot be changed.

Assuming past presentation info is correct, there's also a bunch of features which will be keeping mining costs/capital costs down at the Butcherbird mine site that include:

• The resource is next to a major sealed highway so there is no major investment in building roads (Minesite to the main road is about 2km)
• The ore is at the surface, rather than at some depth so there is no extensive over-burden that needs removal to get to the ore.
• The strip ratio is low (only 18.3Mt for 53.1Mt of ore across the original 40yr plan) so around 74% of the material moved is ore ready for processing.
• Most of the Yanneri ridge open pit profile is above the water table.
• The ore is surrounded by softer materials rather than hard rock so it can be mined without blasting.
• A lot of the excess material surrounding the ore is clay so its basically washed off resulting in a rock mix at approximately 27.3%. A sorting process then improves the grade by 6% to around 33.1% while maintaining a 94% Mn recovery.
• Flotation and Chemical leaching processes aren't needed to generate 30-35% Mn content ore keeping both capital and operating costs down.
• While the mine area is called Yanneri ridge, its pretty flat.

So the question we are all trying to figure out is whether these favourable attributes keep mining costs down and make E25's mining profitable. The updated pre-feasibility work last year certainly modelled it that way. The first few quarterly reports created some doubt. Hopefully the update tomorrow contains something useful.