RE:RE:RE:Todays tradingauburn2,
The reason for the poor gold production at Bjorkdal in Q3 and Q4 is that the former underground ore hauling contractor retired and took his trucks with him. The lead time between ordering new trucks and taking delivery is 6 months, and my understanding is that the contractor doing the open pit mining is taking over the underground ore hauling. That contractor apparently received his trucks in December. About 40,000 metric tons of ore from underground was processed in Q4 2018.
The average quarterly underground ore production is 120,000 metric tons or 30 percent of total milled throughput which implies that there could be up to 200,000 metric tons of high grade ore underground from Q3 and Q4 that needs to get hauled to the surface during Q1 and Q2 2019.
If the ore mix just returns to normal at 30 percent underground, 30 percent open pit, and 60 percent low grade stockpile ore, the milled head grade would be 1.6 g/t and total gold production 14,600 ounces.
If part of that extra ore from previous quarters underground production is processed in Q1, then the underground ore fraction could increase to 50 percent, while opern pit ore holds constant at 30 percent, and low grade stockpiled ore fills the balance. The result would be milled head grade of 2.0 grams per tonne and total gold production of 18,500 ounces.
The logistical problems in Q3 and Q4 2018 may ultimately work to Mandalay Resources advantage. When gold breaks out of its current price range, and that gold would be sold at significantly higher prices. In either scenario, Bjorkdal returns to profitability in Q1 2019.