RE: Undervalued The decision to run select ore straight through floatation when required to keep production levels up in Boliva UMZ looks like a very good decision with the price of Au rising. In the last quarter the per ounce production was 99.9% Cu, .004% Au, and .1% Ag. But, the per ounce value based on a rough metal price average during that quarter was 98.02% Au, 1.9% Ag, and .02% Cu. You can see that they are diametrically opposite which is what you would expect. (I put the average metal prices for the period at $1,650 oz for Au, $33/oz for Ag, and $ .22/oz for Cu. and I the production data from the last update was converted to ounce so that each metal would be comparable)
Last quarter the recovery rate was 55% (design target is 70%), for Au was 35.1%, and for Ag was 21.7%. If the percentage increase in Au and Ag recovery is greater then decrease in Cu recovery going forward then we will be ahead especially since the price of Au has increased and also because the absolute tonnage throughput will be greater.
Bill Williams said:
"This will allow us to maintain throughput at or near capacity throughout any given month. Although total copper production may decrease, the expected recoveries of the precious metals should increase as compared to the LPF process."