RE:Happy New Year - 3DIP coming soon ! I am anticipating any number of surprises on the upside. These could include greater than expected size of high mineralization areas (both laterally and at depth), possible additional deposits in adjacent areas, and greater clarity on the content of Au, Ag, and Mo - all of which provide greater economic value to the deposit. The historical drilling data tells us the base case. The additional investigation in 2020 and 2021 simply uncovers more discovery by utilizing more expansive and refined analytical techniques.
On a side note, here is an interesting metallurgical detail courtesy of USGS.
Several critical elements, including Re, Se, and Te, which lack primary ores, are concentrated locally in some porphyry Cu deposits, and despite their low average concentrations in Cu-Mo-Au ores (100s of ppb to a few ppm), about 80% of the Re produced by mining is from porphyry Cu deposits.
Nearly all primary rhenium production (that is, rhenium produced by mining rather than through recycling) is as a byproduct of copper mining, and about 80 percent of the rhenium obtained through mining is recovered from the flue dust produced during the roasting of molybdenite concentrates from porphyry copper deposits.
The most widely used application of rhenium is from the aerospace industries. Rhenium is used as a superalloy in jet engine parts due to the heat levels produced from these motors. Jet engine superalloy components account for over 70 percent of the worldwide usage of rhenium. It is also used in filaments and electrical contact material.
https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1802P
Rhenium sells for about $1,290 / pound. The spot price of molybdenum by comparison is $9 / pound. Keep in mind that even if rhenium is present in this porphyry deposit, it will be at very low concentrations (100s of ppb or so) and won’t add a significant bump on ore concentrate value. I anticipate that Au (and possibly Ag and Mo) will add a bump, provided that the historical Exall data is proven to be consistent.
The really interesting thing to me is the recovery method – from the flue dust during roasting of molybdenite. Rhenium is a tough metal to process. It is the fourth most densest metal (21.2 g/cm3) and has the second highest melting point, coming in at a cool 3,380°C.