I agree in not answering the question directly because as a...

I agree in not answering the question directly because as a start up and before full commisioning figures become distorted.

as mentioned in the answer they had 55% grade for half of the sales so the discount would be quite high and that may not be the case moving forward.

I think it would be too early to mention if they make a profit on that until after commisioning.

as a start up it would make a loss no doubt but a loss that was expensed last quarter which means the cash coming in regardless of the cost can be used for ramp up of the main project.

Also in the long run if it makes a loss but a less of a loss then if we just dug it out and did nothing with it then it is actually a better outcome then not selling it at all.

IMO I do not think its a simple answer he could say yes its making a loss but the alternative could be worse but in my opinion everyone would just say its making a loss and not worry about the actual alternative.

Or if he said that its making a loss but that is because of commissioning and we should make a profit next quarter most of you will probably not give him the benefit of the doubt and just say that its making a loss.

IMO at the moment it is not about making a profit but about getting some cash flow to get us through commisioning. the real cost can only be determined when it is running at 8MT capacity.