Minor work had continued on the mill during the spring and early summer. The plant could be restarted in the shape that it was in with 3 weeks notice. Additional changes should be made to improve recoveries, including the installation of the cyanide circuit (phase three of the mill) which had not been installed. This could take an additional 8 weeks. Upgrades to other parts of the mill, although not necessary to start operations and recover gold, should be considered as part of an overall plan. All this is being considered and has been factored into plans.
I had said three parties had expressed interest and presented offers. MAC is not negotiating with all three at the same time, and have focused on one group's offer. The other two groups are not negotiating, have stepped back to watch developments, but have expressed their interest in the results of the current negotiations. One additional group has expressed interest and made preliminary investigations.
It is not so much negotiating now, rather it is a process of fine tuning an offer to meet the situation. This requires a detailed engineering and economic evaluation. External events (gold price, global economic slow-down, etc) will influence this offer. MGR is not a direct party to the negotiations, but because of our right of first refusal, our assistance in presenting data, and because of common courtesy we are being kept informed of the progress of these developments.
Dave |
