A lot has been written about ORE not reaching "nameplate capacity". I have spent over 20 years benchmarking capital projects and one thing that stands out is that innovative processing plants (particularly mineral processing plants) rarely achieve nameplate capacity because the people who designed the plant do not a have commercially proven basis for design. The plants are either abandoned or, after many years of trying, get to about 80 percent of the original hypothetical nameplate which in ORE's case is about 13,000 tpa. ORE fits the classification of an innovative plant because it is the first brine plant to be built in 20 something years and the designers probably did not have access to proven design information. What usually happens, if there is sufficient commercial incentive, is that the operators learn from the operation of the first plant and develop a sound basis for designing a second plant. So to me, ORE is on a very predictable path and I am not at all worried about Stage 1 not achieving nameplate. I would be very worried if Stage 2 did not meet nameplate.
ORE Price at posting:
$2.35 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
