RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:updated "back of envelope" resource calculationthehiggins4193,
the area extent or footprint of the holes is small, meaning that the holes are close together, which raises confidence in the calculations as the distance between drill holes is closer. The reason for the calculated pounds being so high is a factor of grade and thickness. When drill holes are closer together, the calculated estimate of pounds won't be as accurate as the block method of calculating pounds of uranium, but I believe it should be reasonably close, at least for my investment decision on NXE. A small footprint with high grades for a deposit also means lower development and lower mining costs/tonne or mining costs/pound produced.
Thinking about FCU's R780 zone which holds most of the resource, the north east end of the zone is over a 1000 meters from shore. That means a dyke for an open pit would have over 2000 meters of 50 meter glacial till exposed in the pits. The glacial till is permeable and charged with ground water. I don't happen to believe at this time that the resource value in zone R780 is high enough to cover the costs of dealing with the water inflows into a pit. Worse, all the water that does flow into the pit would have to be treated at additional expense. Underground mining at R780 is a non starter because a roof pillar thick enough to prevent water ingress would be needed which would effectively sterilize most of the shallow high grade. A mining engineer with experience in developing uranium mines in the Athabaska Basin expressed his opinion that freezing would be required to develop the R780 zone by open pit. Last time I checked, after development costs, the mining operating costs using freezing technology and methods like at Cigar Lake were about $7,000.00/tonne which exceeds the in situ $value/tonne of the resource in the R780 zone. At this time, I wouldn't buy FCU with your money.
Furthermore, I will go on record now and state that if a buyout offer comes from a major like Rio Tinto or Cameco, for the south west area of the Athabaska Basin, it will be for NXE before FCU, and that NXE's Arrow deposit will be the next deposit in the Athabaska Basin to be developed.