RE:RE:OCO owns 56% average grade of 0.323% Cu There are many variables that are important in making a deposit economic and attractive. Grade by itself means nothing. Is 1% better and 0.2% or 0.3%? It depends. How much of 1% is there? How deep is it? 1% for open pit is different than 1% for underground. 1%, 0.2% or 0.3% in Phillipines is pretty much worthless because there is a ban for open pit mining. What is the Capex for putting 1% into production versus 0.3%? Pebble is a huge copper deposit in Alaska. So what? Environmental problems are so huge that even Trump cannot push it through.
All of the variables is what makes a good deposit. This is why I said previously that Santo Tomas is the best in the world. Not because it has the best headline grade. It is because the grade is ADEQUATE to make good money.
Plus, the high grade portion like thereader mentioned is almost 0.5%. This alone is enough to have the major interested because the high grade portion covers the Capex of $1.5 billion in a relatively short period of time. After the capex is covered, the major can mine anything above 0.18% and the profits go straigh to the bottom line for 40 years. That's attractive. Also, do we really think that copper is going to stay at the current price for the next 40 years? When copper is at $4 or $5 per pound, then 0.10% and below is most likely economic.
What is also attractive about Santo Tomas is that there are no environmental issues. The deposit is no good if you have environmental groups blocking it. The deposit is also inferior if it is located in such an isolated location with no access to water, power, etc. Where is the majors going to get water or power from? One of the deposits in the Ambrian report needs its own power plant = expensive. It also needs a paved road for 200 km? This is very expensive.
At the end of the day what matters is whether the project can be put into production and whether it makes money and what the return is on that money invested. If 1% copper cannot make money but 0.18%, 0.32%, or 0.5% can, then the lower grades are better. Don't let the headline grade trick you.
NPV, IRR, Payback period, Capex, Opex, Environmental, Jurisdiction, Infrastructure, Grade, Shareholding structure are the important variables that make or break a deposit.