It appears many small miners are experiencing cost blowouts in...

It appears many small miners are experiencing cost blowouts in their feasibility studies due to the price of fuel & labour. Well this explains why BHP & RIO don't have a lot of competition from smaller startup operations & why many projects are simply going to fall by the wayside. Most on this thread recognize the importance of the right ore,location,right grade & right volume of resource. Put simply UMC may experience the same cost blowouts as other small explorers wanting to become producers, but the key to success is having quantity of high grade ore in the right location. If your project can't stand the cost blowout it will sit in the ground & wait till its economics are right (if ever). I am pleased I ignored several other iron ore projects given cost blowouts are now their main danger. Being able to scale up an operation, certainly helps reduce costs as a producer. No one could run a 100,000 tpa operation up in the Pilbara. Big discoveries make geologists cost per ton of ore so much cheaper etc. Surprisingly, cost blowouts will keep most of the junior competitors at bay for UMC.
Regards
Buffett