To be pedantic, every piece of ore crushed is actually money out...

To be pedantic, every piece of ore crushed is actually money out of the bank - as you have to pay for it to be mined and crushed. Money in the bank only happens when the crushed ore has been processed and a saleable product extracted, product sold and revenue from customer has been received (and subject to the settlement terms, this can be 2-3 months).

Until that point, the cash balance will fall as the working capital in the project increases.