Thanks for your question. When I replied to the previous...

Thanks for your question. When I replied to the previous question it was regarding the AISC used in the scoping study and would it change much depending if a snow road was used instead of the all weather access road. In the SS we took a conservative approach as it is a high level study only and the assumption was made in it that the toll cost of using the access road would be similar to the cost of using a snow road (as was used in the Phase 1 SS as well).However, the all weather access road obviously has other benefits such as predictability, and being able to use it year round not seasonally like the snow road, as well being able to bring big machinery in in bigger pieces than we can using the snow road. These potential other benefits were not examined as part of the SS as it is a high level report only. However, in the PFS, which is a much more detailed level study, we will look at the access options and the cost of each a lot more closely and we believe that in this analysis we should see some further cost savings from the access road which would as stated then potentially allow us to reduce the cut off grades further to the levels used at Fort Knox and Dublin Gulch, but obviously we need to complete these studies 1st.
So to answer your question. no, the cut-off grade will not increase if the access road was not built as we have used conservative estimates in the SS. However if it is built, and the majority of the community and the State government are very supportive of it, then we believe that subject to these further studies being completed, we could actually reduce the cut-off grade further. This is all potential upside for the PFS, along with the already identified potential of increasing the mill feed grade above 0.73 g/t Au and the recoveries rates both of which we are aiming to do this year with the 2023 drill program and further met and ore sorting testing later in the year.