the next nst? article out, page-8

nk
Your post, unfortunately, contains a number of half truths that tend to paint a worse picture than actually exists. Firstly, the mining grade held up very well but the recovery was very poor. This was due to a high portion of the gold reporting to the Sb concentrate and the fact that at this point in time, smelters did not pay for gold content in concentrate. The issue was further complicated (and further recovery losses) by the attempt to separate as much gold out as possible from the Sb before shipping. All evidence points to the fact that the grade was there and they mined to expectations but lost it in the treatment (50% recovery has been estimated by some as the true recovery).
On the structure pinching out at the base of the deposit, this is again half true. The deposit consists of a number of splay structures or "Elements" as Anglo referred to them. There were at least three such elements and the ore would pinch in one and grow in the other both along strike and down dip. The geologist at the mine at the time pointed out that this was the case but was basically ignored. The real truth is that a number of winzes (small shafts sunk on the ore from the underground levels) showed some of the best grades in the mine below the bottom level.
On the issue of ground problems, it is true that there were a number of issues with the ground stability in some of the lower levels. It is also true that in some of the lower levels, the plan appeared to fall apart. The decline goes through the ore on at least two occasions, ventilation was very poor and it is likely that control suffered and some of the problems were a result of this. There is also some evidence that the wet river sands that were introduced as fill in the mine actually caused stability problems by lubricating splay structures and the water reacting with the gouge material in the fault. The recent drilling shows good ground and the combination of cement and rock fill proposed in the mining study should solve this problem.
Finally, yes, the resource is predominantly Inferred and NWR have indicated that they intend to bring a portion of this to Indicated in order to produce a Reserve for the DFS. Those that know narrow vein, high grade deposits understand their problems in producing large reserves. The deeper drilling shows that the structure and grade exists down to at least 850m but there is not enough data to produce a JORC reserve.
Another few facts to point out, in the last 12 months, NWR have consolidated the lease ownership (never been done previously), identified a clear solution to the recovery at a low cost, conducted the first pass of the metallurgical study and produced a scoping study that shows a very good result. In all, not a bad story.
My thoughts only, do your own research