Scott didn't enter this rodeo without having a real good idea of what the costs to mine this deposit would be. Although we will not get an official calculation until the prefeasibility study is completed and that, by the way, has started in phase two as I write.
What we do know is that a thousand tonnes of ore from the D Zone was processed a number of years ago and even with a more antiquated mineral processing regimen, the result was a very respectable 90% recovery rate.
Scott also made a statement that he estimated costs to run about 40% of projected revenue. Here is a real down and dirty estimate of the gross mining profit based upon the following assumptions:
1) 90% recovery rate (will be higher as metallurgy techniques are now greatly improved)
2) Average grade of Niobium - .43%
3) Price - $20/lb
4) Mining costs of extraction and milling - Gross profit on 1 tonne of .43% deposit:
2204.6 lbs/tonne X .0043 = 9.48 lbs Ni X 90% recovery = 8.53 lbs processed X 20$ = $170.64 gross minus 40% mining costs =
$102.38 gross profit per tonne
The total deposit in both the D zone and the SE Zone is presently 45,265,285 tonnes of .43% Ni and 98,000,000 of .35% Ni giving us a gross profit in the D zone of $4,634,333,386 and $8,166,720,240 gross in the Se Zone.
For the small portion of the deposit that we presently have identified and if my assumptions are close to reality, we are looking at a mining profit of $12.8 BILLION.
Think there isn't some serious professional interest in our Lake Nemegosenda deposit. You better damn well believe it, Sparky. This is the big leagues and these are big league numbers. Now you may understand why Scott and the boys are so excited!....It's all good and I am just as excited as they are...Good investing.....Jim "