I have recorded the shipping arrivals and departures since...

I have recorded the shipping arrivals and departures since 2013.

Yes this last quarter has been a bit of disaster,

Shipments at an optimal rate is 1 ship every 2.14 days (51.43 hours). This is calculated on 4 trainloads per day for atotal of 28,000 tonnes per day. In 45 days some 1.26m tonnes can be shipped from Karara to Geraldton which equates to 21 shiploads.

To date this 2019FY there are some 107 shipments (as at 2 May 2019).

Of those 107 shipments some 45 took longer than 60 hours to berth, load and depart. The average time for those 45 ships is 102.26 hrs. One ship took some 261 hours, some 11 days.

I consider this to be tardy to say the least.

However one ship took only 25.5 hours to berth, load and depart, so it can be done.

The best year was 160 shipments for 9.6m tonnes in 2014, but this included DSO, but it demonstrates that the shipment has a capacity of at least 9.6m tonnes.

Based on an optimal time plus 20% (61.71 hours) loading I have calculated that there are some 1,825 hours lost by these 45 shipments. Using the optimal time plus 20% of 61.71hours, there are some 29 shipments lost.

This equates to some 1.74m tonnes lost or at $140/tonne, some $243.6m lost income.

Now there may have been extenuating circumstances, but these figures already have a 20% contingency built in.

For a mining processing plant which has been operating for 6 years in steady state production and the shipments are lost like this, it makes one wonder about the capability of the operator.