Development Work
Development work on levels 9, 10 and 3 three would likely be included in the all-in sustaining costs. The reasons these efforts are being made are fairly obvious.
1 .Lower mineralized grades, wherever they are presently being mined, makes it necessary to access over 5 t/g gold on level 3. This region has been poorly explored by previous drilling. Maybe they will stumble upon something of value without any significant new drilling like they did on level 9. (13.24g/t.- not too shabby!)
2. Level 9 development continues for obvious reasons. More high grade veins may be encountered! The present one needs more exploitation on this level.
3. Level 10 is being developed in order to intercept the descending high grade vein from level 9.
As I stated before, what management is doing makes good sense. They are on your side!
In the transition from lower grade to higher grade mining, some blending of ore is likely happening now. This scenario will likely be reflected in future quarterly reports as the new muck is milled. Hopefully, the overall grade will gradually improve and so also will the company's profit margin as the next year progresses.
Just remember that hard rock mining costs a lot of money! It's all in each quarterly report. For a company in transition, it's really not too bad! This company is very conservatively run. And it's not going broke!
Why do some investors continue to bad mouth management? What else would you have them do? The Elder Mine has a lot of potential. Why capitulate to more knowledgeable buyers? Be one instead!
All the best! Java