I do understand the point that in the vein, we do have a high grade of sb but dont forget it's a vein of Sb2S3 that means only 71,68% in the ore is sb. And when you are blasting, there is no way possible to get just ore from the vein, some waste will be mix to it. and a ratio 1:1 is very generous, most of the time it is around 3 to 6:1
But i do understand that in major mining industries, the first 1-2 years plan is to get as much high grade of ore as possible just to get back what you spent, it's a safe way to make sure that the company survive if the price of the ore drops.
Of course for the daily operating cost will be much more higher in the first 1-2 years plan because you have more expenses.
you have fix expenses, you have variable according to the amount of ore extracted. we have site praparation, preproduction stripping, underground equipement, maintenance facilites, electric power supply, distribution of water supply, infrastructure, feasibility, engineering, planning, supervision, management, construction, admin, accounting, staff, legal ...
