RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: New Peer Analysis for CRKThat is true, but some of the operational issues causing the high cash costs for Q3 remain............but, if fully mitigated , you are right.
Open pit mines are bulk tonnage, low grades which typically fall within the 0.5 gm/ton to 2 gms/ton and usually are recovered by heap leach.
From memory, CRK's pits are about 1.5 gms per ton but being milled, means that recoveries are about 30 % higher than for heap leach..................................I dont recall that any of the many open pits fell below the 1 gm/ton range
I just reviewed that Cosmos drilling results, subsequent to your comment, and they are indeed quite impressive
.
These much higher grades will substantially reduce cash costs in 2012, along with the fact that they will be consolidating their open pit mining in 2012 to areas adjacent to the Howley mill which will also reduce cash costs while improving grades somewhat ( Princess Louise grades are higher ).
The Union Reefs Project area has also been prioritized to find additional sources of high-grade mill feed that can ultimately be mined by underground methods with the near term priorities being the Prospect and Crosscourse
deposits.
So, cash costs for 2012 should be much lower and may hit sub $800 per oz.
As for valuations, its obvious that the higher the production, the higher the valuation ( p/s or cash flow multiple )...............more of the gold is being converted to cash flows.
Based on this, CRK ' valuation multiples should increase substantially in 2012, with production near doubling and with cash costs falling by 60- 70 %.
I noticed that RBC crossed over 1.1 million shares at the close yesterday.
I suspect, like others, that the wall at 49.5 is price manipulation but it just might be several resource funds that must liquidate their positions in order to cover investor redemptions before month-end and the 49 cent level ensures that investors will keep buying, given the 56 cent offer..