Bob, the major cost of the mill has been spent, so from here on in it's operating costs/benefits only in the equation used to determine whether or not to run it. The debt must be serviced in any case. The mill was used, and had liner left. It was run until liner change was due, and shut down to change them, and to tweak the systems in general, which is not entirely novel or beyond comprehension, imho.
At the same time, a decision was made to deal with the MAC under-contribution, and hence the extended shut-down. Up until shut-down, there was a positive operating cashflow from the mill. Assuming a resolution to the MAC thing and improvements to the mine/mill, the cashflow should be even more positive on startup.
So I say run the mill, if it makes money. It's there, the ore is there, it runs at a profit, so why not? Even better - flog it to somebody else and use the money for exploration ... but this is not the kind of market where you have that choice. So, run the mill. |
