RE:RE:News Release Out TodayBeluga2020,
Orvana's reported average gold grade in fiscal Q3 2020 was 2.43 g/t!
A horrible number not seen at Orovalle since Q1 2017 when the gold grade dropped to 2.23 g/t and quarterly gold production was only 10,123 ounces. During that quarter Carles had just restarted and the oxide ore to skarn ratio dropped to 16 percent of throughput.
2.43 g/t average gold grade implies that oxide ore was approximately 24 percent of the feed in fiscal Q3. Since there was no mining at Carles, the implication is that Orovalle processed mostly skarn ore during the quarter. The Q2 MD&A mentioned an accumulated skarn ore stockpile that started to be processed in Q2. If they ran the stockpile through the mill during the Covid lockdown in Spain, then I would expect lower mining costs in fiscal Q3 relative to fiscal Q2.
Add in higher copper and silver by product prices, and IMHO Orvana may well report a profit this quarter.