I take it from the last update - Mestre CIL test results 28.75gpt - that Gell St Mining had the plant humming along nicely at operational level prompting OGX to put on a 2nd shift. That doesn't happen unless there's confidence the plant can handle the extra work. Bid Rod reported plenty of essential spares in the workshop on his visit. Jimone observed a typical fitters workshop in action so it's obvious they know what's needed when things do go wrong. That doesn't of course explain the trouble with the two boggers in August and September but I would think the workshop would have far better systems in place in case of repeat breakdowns. The third bogger should be onsite now - thus should one go down there is little to no loss in productivity. So, on those fronts - not too many concerns and remember,the Gekko and hammer mills are quite new still.
The small hammer mills are reported to be running well in all of the recent updates so no problems there and that's important because they are running flat-tac 3 shifts per day milling the extra high grade. I do hope they consider buying another pair of the smaller mills as they are without question doing the job the larger mill has (to date) failed to do. If the smaller mills wear out faster than expected they can be easily replaced at minimal cost, so no problems there BJB.
The tails throughput seems a bit ambitious at first - 3000 tonnes per month when obviously they haven't done anything like that this year through the Gekko but one thing to note is: the high grade tailings have already been processed and won't stress the mill too much - like running sand through the mill I imagine - easy winnings (hopefully at higher than 2gpt!). IMO during the wet season they'll ramp up the processing of tailings to keep production up if and when the underground pumps crap themselves. Re the wet season - other mines in the area run right through the wet season - it's not a case of shut up shop until the season turns - the show goes on and the inclement weather is factored in.
Time on the ground in mining gathers experience and I imagine RC has seen just about all that can possibly go wrong at Cascavel, and has a plan in place for each scenario. Yep things break and the plant will be idle for periods - but as experience with the mill builds those problems diminish - sounds like we are getting to that point with the new expertise on board and the recent tune-ups.
