RE: RE: NI 43-101 I don't think it necessarily increases the resource estimate, but it appears they use the software program to test the feasibility of mining the resource. Therefore I think it can be a very important bit of information. This is what I found on the web regarding Whittle optimization. I would say they are in the Scoping level of their analysis.
| Exploration | - Understand the potential value of the deposit.
- Target areas for future drilling.
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| Scoping | - Establish the economic viability of the deposit and options for capital investment and development strategies.
- Examine sensitivities and assign resources accordingly for future studies.
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| Pre-feasibility, Feasibility | - Identify preferred development strategy, capital investment, expected NPV and optimal extraction sequence.
- Calculate sensitivities to develop risk reduction strategy.
- Ascertain final reserve statement for the deposit.
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| Bankable Feasibility Study | - Analyse expected return on investment.
- Analyse sensitivities and investment risk.
- Consider multiple scenarios for reducing risk.
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| Production | - Determine strategic direction for the mine; cut-off grade and optimised cut-off grade; mining areas and extraction sequence per period; and development strategies for new mines and push backs.
- Re-evaluate mine plans in response to changing conditions.
- Calculation of annual reserve statement.
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