Smelter Payday Countdown, page-84

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CuDeco has a no fly in fly out policy , has its own housing estate with company housing and also has erected worker's accommodation. Once construction of the treatment plant is complete, all CuDeco workers will be locally based. The company has informed us that this will be a saving in costs to CuDeco over time. It is also of benefit to the broader community . It is a policy which keeps families together, is favoured by the Shire and benefits the business community.
Wayne McCrae investigated various power options, either using local grid power, solar and wind power [ or a combination ] and having his own diesel power plants which ultimately won out.
As for water supply, I do not know how much water has been stored from the dewatering. It has been stated in an earlier announcement that ,from memory, water supply could be accessed by pipeline . I would have to look up the distance but I have in mind 7 kilometres[ unsure ]
The prevailing economic conditions with mining redundancies in the region have made for an ideal climate for CuDeco to employ experienced personnel.
The advantage CuDeco has is that, in the initial 10 year mining stage ,it is by the cheaper open cut method which to date has been able to find more ore than was originally thought to be there.
CuDeco has every intention to proceed with its Cloncurry rail and Townsville Port facilities. They are not needed now to the same extent as they will be later when the export drive is on in earnest.
As for profitability, Minsheng Bank would not have granted Cudeco such a large loan facility and the opportunity for more without having done thorough due diligence and the belief that CuDeco will be profitable.