Chuck, If you really want answers to your questions, just go back on the thrad and spend some time reading the posts, particularly Walt's and George's. The cost of moving the first tonne of ore is quite highg but when it is spread over a mine life of 10 years, it probably is
int he range of 25.00 a tonne. If the WSP diamonds prove to have
enough value per tonne, then WSP will have the advantage of
of a large sill that is not beneath a lake. If you read the aBZ
thread, you will discover how many million dollars ABZ is going
to spend to build berms from waste rock so that they can then
directly mine the top of their pipes. Because their kibmerlite
is in pipes and goes deep, when they reach a certain point, they'll
go underground. Because the overburden is not deep above the
sill, I would expect them to strip it off, then mine the kimberlite.
If you have been to North Eastern BC and seen the coal mines where
they literlly blew the top off a full size mountain, then put a cat
on top and began working their way down until the coal was extracted
and the mountain completely disassembled, you would know what
mining companies can do to get at a resource.
Nothing matters except the value of the diamonds from the bulk
sample. Given a high enough value, all technical problems can be
solved.
|
