RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Bjoerkdal Sherry35,
I don't have the answer to your question about how much it would cost to bring the Cerro Bayo plant back on line. I would guess that this cost would be a function of the permit conditions that are placed on the mine's start up. But IMHO, you are asking the wrong question!
The real question is does Mandalay Resources need Cerro Bayo to bring the Costerfield Youle vein into production? And the answer to that question is that Bjorkdal cash flow is the key to bringing Costerfield's Youle vein into production.
I base this conclusion on the following data from the 2015 through 2018 AIFs:
Year Mine Headcount Revenue per employee
2015 Cerro Bayo 531 $38,466 USD (Based on $1200 USD gold)
2016 Cerro Bayo 607 $73,698 USD (Based on $1200 USD gold)
2017 Cerro Bayo 120 $170,210 USD (Based on $1200 USD gold)
The 2017 figures are based on production divided by the staff left after the mine was put on care and maintenance. While the productivity per employee was increasing during this time period, so was the AISC per ounce of silver which went from $14.69 USD in 2015 to $20.87 USD in 2016
and increased to $27.05 USD in 2017. Given that the silver price is still below $15 USD, it is clear that Cerro Bayo is not economic at current silver prices, and so I do not expect that Dominic Duffy will put the mine back into production before the Youle Lode at Costerfield goes into production.
Now let's take a look at the overall productivity of Mandalay Resources employees including all 3 mines:
Year Mine Headcount Revenue per employee
2015 ALL 953 $204,092 USD (Based on actual revenue)
2016 ALL 1145 $162,046 USD (Based on actual revenue)
2017 ALL 662 $246,219 USD (Based on actual revenue)
2018 ALL 657 $206,061 usd (Based on 6 months revenue multiplied by 2)
This table shows that revenue per employee is higher in 2018 than it was back in 2015 thanks to Cerro Bayo being on care and maintenance. So while the black swan flooding event has caused most investors to dump their shares of Mandalay Resources at unbelievably low prices,
I view this as a HUGE BUYING OPPORTUNITY, because with their BAD MINE out of production, Mandalay Resources good mines Bjorkdal and Costerfield are operating more efficiently than in 2015, and IMHO, the revenue per employee will increase strongly in 2019 as Bjorkdal is high graded, and as Brunswick and then Youle are put into production. Revenue per employee at Costerfield in 2015 was $428,762 USD. Since the Youle vein is higher grade than the ore
processed in 2015, I expect the revenue per employee to skyrocket at Costerfield in 2019.