Running discussion on SP, page-4630

There is a lot more to Opex than just wages, particularly when the construction phase is over.

You'd need to factor in lots of ongoing costs, and although you're trying to avoid the transport thing it's very important not just for getting the rocks to the coast. Production costs are one thing but delivering what you produce to you customers is vital.

For instance you'd need to factor in the cost of power (electricity, diesel etc and its reliability). What are the costs of an energy shortfall and how do you mitigate against it.

You'd need to consider the costs of covering any shortfall in supplies (e.g. if you need to fix a truck how long will that take to get the parts to the site, to find a good mechanic to fix it quickly. It took AVZ 6 months to get a drill rig in! )

Taxes and royalties - this is where your sovereign risk comes in. In Australia I think the mining companies would be fairly comfortable that they understand the landscape and can predict these costs over the coming years. In DRC there is always a risk that the government could move the goalposts at any time - although the current government seem like they are genuine in working with foreign mining companies .

Overall - you're right, probably everything in DRC would be cheaper than in Australia. But the cost of something breaking/changing in DRC would likely be much harder and more time consuming to fix.