Ed, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I did not even include the cost of copper in my calculation (because it is mostly recyclable). The electrowinning process is what cost between $.25 to $.5 per lbs of copper deposited. You see, the electrowinning process is the way copper is refined from the smelt in the copper industry, and that process is the great majority of the cost of copper extraction. Thus, unless they have in excess of between $500 to $1000 per ton of goodies, the pile is worth zilch, if, electrowinning is a necessary step in recovering this "special ore".
Zeev
PS, As for the quatity of copper used, you may be right, particularly if you smelt the precipitate rather than the ore. But, if you smelt the ore and then electrowin the smelt, then you are talking about a ratio of pretty close to 1 to 1 ore/copper. This is one of the reasons I am staying aside until I know more about the viability of their process. I am afraid that they are still at the onion peeling stage of the process and are not equipped to move from dead center in this respect. |
