RE: RE: RE: RE: What would happenYou're forgetting a few things . Orion South is going to be mined first and the 40% contribution by Newmont or other partner will be welcome and provide comfort to the lenders. The payback from Orion South would be 1.5 years sooner than with starting with the Star and cost//tonne is approx. $1.80/tonne less for Orion South. The economies of scale do not have to start immediately. They can only handle so many thousands of tonnes/day and one pit will suffice for that , at least in the beginning. Remember, the costs for the Star Reserve did not include any other revenue over the life of the mine. There are also several million carats in the inferred category which were not included in the future revenue but were including in the mining costs. The other item that MUST be addressed for a 2 pit operation is the re-balancing of the Star to that 60/40. This will provide up front cash for Shore to improve their financial picture as well.
There isn't much more to talk about now without that updated Reserve that will include both pits and then the bottom line of what the IRR is. Also, the majors do not require a 43-101 NI appraisal of the mine and have their own math and cost saving methods that aren't part of Shore's projections. Let's see if Newmont makes that commitment soon . They will be faced with more dilution if they don't by the end of 2009.
Crocky