Chuck & Everyone:
Needless to say, it all gets very confusing without knowing how much
head ore it takes to produce a pound of primary concentrate, and then
how much dore you can get from that, and how much anode slime we get
from that, containing how much in precious metals of the various types,
so we can figure out what in the HELL is going on... I mean I know it
sounds good, but you just can't quite get your arms around it without
more hard data.
When in doubt, pray for an angel. I received the following from Ed
Fishbaine who as most of us know is no longer affiliated with GPGI
other than as a shareholder like the rest of us. He gave me permission
to post the following:
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There is much confusion on the thread. We would all like to have
definitive numbers but this is not possible yet. What is important is
the direction the company is going in and, as I see it, the fact of
commercial production rather than the quantity is the relevant
reality. I have no doubt that the present recovery rates will be
increased over time as the processing procedures are improved.
At any rate this is my take based on numbers I have received which
should be viewed as approximations and not fixed in stone:
It takes 280 tons of head ore (the same as enhanced ore) to yield 170
pounds of primary concentrate which in turn yields 120 pounds of dore.
dore reduces to anode slimes at a rate of 6%
so 4300 pounds of dore produced monthly yields 6%* 4300= 258 pounds of
slimes.
According to Twiford1s laboratory reults 1 ton of anode slimes
contains about 10,000 ounces of pgms + gold.
Therefore 258 poundsof slimes should contain 258/2000= 12.9%* 10000=
1290 ounces of metal worth 1290* 300= $387,000 per month.
At this rate to produce 4300 pounds of dore requires 4300/120 = 35.83
tons head ore.
387,000/35.83= $10,801 as the value per ton of head ore. .
At this time the commercial recoveries do not match Twiford1s lab
results.
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According to Auric $1,800 metal per ton of head ore has been
achieved. Therefore, $10,801/ $1800 = 16.6% commercial recovery vs
Twiford1s lab recovery.
NOW THEREFORE:
1. present Auric recovery can be ramped up towards Twiford1s in due
time with improvements in the processing, notably reduction of the
copper content and the slag. This is a matter of development.
2. Compare $1,800 per ton of head ore with hard rock mines where
$300 ore is cause for celebration. Costs of recovery are a small
fraction which will shrink with economies of scale.
3. Calculate the value of the 500,000 ton Hassayampa enhanced ore pile
at $1,800 per ton and you get $900 million. Add 15 tons of raw ore
reduced at a stripping ratio of 4:1 and you get another 3.37 million
tons of enhanced ore.
4. Add in Weaver Creek at 100 million tons of raw ore and the Oro
Grande.
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(End of Ed Fishbaine's comments)
The fact that AuRIC is only getting 16% of the goodies out at this time
tells me they are doing something very wrong, or Russ has mis-calculated,
which I doubt. I know nothing about refining, but this seems to miss
the proverbial mark by a considerable degree, but it also gives me
cause for optimism knowing that they will likely improve on their initial
results going forward.
I hope some of the above information helps. Maybe someone smarter than
me can analyze the data and share their thoughts with the group.
Regards to all --
Jeff |
