Post by
bizwiz on Sep 12, 2013 6:01pm
Tomorrow never knows....
Here we are with a gold mine holding some rich seams which , considering the grade and extraction technology at hand, should make this undertaking highly profitable. Unfortunately there seems to be some unforeseen problems preventing this undertaking from reaching its full potential despite what common sense dictates. In that regard, occasionally other factors at hand prevents what otherwise is a sound project from advancing…
In my opinion, after reviewing the grades at hand (also based on older documentation), it is apparent that extraction costs should be minimised unless , as is typical with mining operations which privilege mine life and jobs as opposed to profitability, lower grade will be used (in reflection of the current price of gold) thus bringing up extraction costs but theoretically assuring longer mine life…
With regards to gold
Gold , despite being deemed as scarce is widely disseminated enough to be ultimately deemed as a metal whose availability depends on the extraction technology . This is apparent once considering the billion tons of gold dissolved in ocean water which can’t be economically extracted at current cost…
With regards to related matters once dwelling on the scarcity of resources.
Once considering what the future holds, no need to be a genius to grasp that our reliance on petroleum as a source of energy will ultimately oblige the use of alternatives lest such reliance leads towards an economic and social doomsday scenario as the result of the over depletion of a resource so essential to further the course of the economy and society in terms of the diversity and availability of consumer products which we take for granted. I for one tend to view the matter with a certain measure of relativism knowing that with the higher price for oil arises the greater availability of the resource with further consideration for the technological advances facilitating extraction and creation (including with such potential sources as the transformation of ethanol from corn ).
With regards to the pertained limits imposed on such a resource that is essential to make the world economy function, I was surprised by what I uncovered with the less acknowledged namely , to give an example, with phosphorous which is essential to assure the fuller growth of crops which considering the ever growing population of this planet should oblige us to ask the relevant questions with regards to the sustainability of high production of crops namely where fertiliser containing phosphorous is amply used. Despite the fact that the element is very common, industrial sources are rare with one source in particular monopolising world production (if I’m not mistaken) with such a source nearing its end…
While the optimists may proudly proclaim that with higher prices arises new resources that can be more easily extracted notwithstanding what technology provides to facilitate the extraction and processing of such resources, I’m not so certain that such a solution will assure the perpetuation of mankind in the distant future considering the large population growth which may outpace the capacity we have to provide the resources we need to feed ourselves….