stage 1a ??

Im trying to get a better feel for the stage 1a mining rate, processing plant capacity, truck rate, barge rate and shipping rate... just for curiosity/reality check...

I'm not exactly sure how to calculate the t/hr rate of the processing plant ( or if the plant rate is based on product rate or feed rate) so if someone can help, please do... here's my guess.

Stage 1a
5 years
5.3 MT product
0.61 product ratio

assume operation
300 days/yr
16 hr/day

Plant Rate: 360t/hr ore to be processed, giving 220t/hr product ( 1MT/yr). So, assume 2 x processing streams (SAREIC presentation) that is approx 200t/hr DMS units and product belts may be a bit more.

Mine rate: 220t/hr product= 360t/hr ore * 3.8 (strip ratio)= 1375t/hr of dirt to me moved at minesite. (I have ignored the fact we need faster rates at the feed end and they may/may not work 16hr days).
Mine rate: assume 1500t/hr of dirt to be moved. (how many trucks/dozers etc. is this?? is this feasible...

A standard shipping container is 6m x 2.3m x 2.3m = 30M3 approx. So, to transport 220t/hr of product (assume 1m3 ore = 1 tonne) we need 7-8 containers/hr to be trucked from the processing plant to Lucky Bay ( 16 hrs day for 300days/yr).
That is 16*(7 or 8) = 110-130 containers/day (approx = 23,000-27,500t/week) seems a lot of trucks to me. 156kms from mine to Lucky Bay.

Feeder Vessel can carry 4500-6000t/day so must do about 5 trips/week from Lucky Bay to Panamax vessel. ( reality check : 4500t/day * 300days/yr = 1.35MT/yr)

Panamax vessel : capacity 60-80,000t

23-27500t/week = one ship every 2-3 weeks.


... seems to roughly add up to me... not sure about truck logistics though..

comments?