Balmoral Resources Ltd BALMF

Conversion from Ni to Au equivalent

[goindeeper]

For those that may have missed it when they gave up reading.  From:

https://www.balmoralresources.com/s/Grasset.asp?ReportID=650193

It is always difficult to compare the potential value of different deposit types, in particular when multiple metals are involved. To provide a relative sense of how say a 10 g/t gold intercept compares to a 1% nickel intercept we often resort to a gold or nickel equivalent calculation. There are several assumptions built into these types of calculations which mean they are far from perfect comparisons and as they are typically based on metal prices they are a snap shot in time. They also assume 100% metal recoveries which clearly make them "non-real world" as no deposits exhibit 100% recovery of actual assay values.

At current metal prices (April 29, 2014) of $8.30 per lbs for nickel and $1300 per ounce gold a rock containing 1% nickel, on a 100% recovered basis, would be equal in terms of recovered value to a rock containing 4.38 g/t gold on the same 100% recovered basis. Obviously most nickel deposits contain significant copper, platinum, palladium or other recoverable minerals which then ultimately add to the potential value of the intercept. For example, again on a 100% recoverable basis adding 0.10% copper (at $3.20 copper), 0.15 g/t platinum (at $1400/ounce platinum) and 0.35 g/t palladium (at $800/ounce palladium) to the same rock adds a potential value of 0.53 g/t gold equivalent to this same rock (for 4.91 g/t gold equivalent). These numbers serve only as a guideline to assist in making a comparison and should not be relied on in making any form of investment decision.

For the calculations above:

The gold grade equivalent used is as follows: Gold Equiv. (g/t) = (Ni grade x ((Ni price per lb/Au price per ounce) x 0.0686 lbs per oz x 10000 g per %)) + (Cu grade x ((Cu price per lb/Au price per ounce) x 0.0686 lbs per oz x 10000 g per %)) + (Pt grade x (Pt price per oz/Au price per oz)) + (Pd grade x (Pd price per oz/Au price per oz))

The metal prices used were: Gold $1300/oz, Nickel, $8.30/lbs, Copper $3.00/lbs, Platinum $1400/oz, Palladium $800/oz


Does anyone have a rule of thumb for when a borehole interval indicates that a mine is basically economic at first glance? Such as "3 m interval of 1% Ni is always the minimum underground minable width, assuming adequate overall extent and tonnage to make a mine viable."