RE:RE:RE:Change in managementUngroundValue,
1. Did management meet their Q1 2020 deadline for bringing Relief Canyon into commercial production?
The answer is NO!
2. How did they do on first year tons and ounces stacked?
The answer is approximately 50 percent of the planned 88,000 ounces stacked.
3. What about gold recovery which was supposed to be 78 percent of the ounces stacked?
My guestimate (in the absence of any transparancy from management) is 25 to 38 percent gold recovery which if those numbers prove to be correct, then Relief Canyon would be an unqualified disaster.
For comparison let's take a look at how McEwen Mining's Gold Bar heap leach mine fared in Q4 2020. They had the same weather issues and Covid 19 impacts as Relief Canyon.
Because of reduced shifts worked, throughput at Gold Bar was only 3966 tpd or approximately 50 percent of full production--very similar to the hit that Relief Canyon took because of the failed radial stacker. Average mined ore grade was 0.74 g/t resulting in 8375 ounces of gold getting stacked in Q4 2020. Gold production at Gold Bar was 5,900 ounces or a recovery of 70.4 percent of the ounces stacked in the quarter.
On a cumulative basis, 67,495 ounces have been stacked at Gold Bar since the beginning of production, and the cumulative gold recovery has been 59,830 ounces or approximately 88 percent of ounces stacked. So in contrast to the apparent disaster at Relief Canyon, the Gold Bar leach system is functioning quite well.
However, because of the reduced throughput, Cash cost of production at Gold Bar was $3,439 USD per ounce and AISC was $3,726 USD per ounce in Q4 2020.
So it is an open question whether Relief Canyon was economic in Q1 2021 which would be the first quarter that Americas Gold and Silver would have to disclose operational data on the performance of Relief Canyon.