Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Precious and Base Metal Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumell who wrote (27679)	2/5/2004 4:45:53 AM
From: E. Charters	Respond to of 39344

That actually happened in Timmins one time. A diamond drill hit a fairly largenugget on one of the exploration properties on the Destor, the bit became completely clogged and was gold coated when pulled out. This happened back in the thirties and was in the newspaper. In Studbury where they mine all the world's nickel, or did until the Liberals "killed mining" with their tax policies back in the 70's -- (remember that when you are tempted to vote communist, I mean liberal, to "save the country" from fr. terrorists next time) they had a hard time with rock that abraded carbide and diamond bits quickly. One of the hosts rocks, norite (a hypersthene gabbro that may be a flow not an intrustion) uses up bits as quick as any rock on the planet. Diamond bits would burn out in 35 feet, instead of lasting for the usual several hundred. Similarly carbides suffered early death. Grinding and crushing surfaces saw early wear out as well. So mining nickel is really hard sometimes. The Timmins stuff however is at the contact of two serpentine flows, not in norite. It is too easy to mill and ends up being a slimes/flotation problem a tad. The part about it being at the contact of mafic or komatiitic flows indicates that its is Sed-Ex or volcanigenic nickel, not magmatic or purely injected hydrothermal nickel. 8% is 160 pounds nickel to the ton, or perhaps 1600 dollars CDN per ton. Of course the tenor of the nickel is not 8%. At Timmins nickel it ran 2% or 40 pounds per ton. This McWatters stuff is under 2% I understand, perhaps 1.8 or 1.5% average. This could be 350 dollars per ton CDN. Costs cannot be much more than 100 dollars per ton mine and mill. The stuff in this area is low copper too which is a bonus in a nickel circuit as copper is really an impurity in a nickel concentrate. On the other hand too, the McWatters property is narrow vein, gets perhaps lower than 90% recovery and has to ship and sell its concentrate. I guess they are aiming at the new nickel circuit going into the Kidd Creek Mill in order to get rid of their product. The McWatters so far is low tonnage too. I don't know what they would need to mine, but contracts and few tons would be good. A mill would come in handy too, if there is any capacity left in the area that they don't have to pay thru the nose for. EC<:-}