RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Great Bear to scale I agree with all of what you say here Countrygent. It's why I have mainly been focussed on the 300 zone. However, it is starting to become more interesting as other zones appear to be rising towards the surface as drilling continues.
Yes, KK does seem to have expectations of near surface resources on Eureka, and possibly in the ground between it and Goldstorm. Highper made an interesting speculation that perhaps the ice road between the two zones exposed surface material that has piqued KK's interest? Perhaps this is a factor in why KK is raising this possibility. Let's hope so.
Countrygent wrote:
Its fun to dream of blue sky ... beware that large deposits with lengthy mine design schedules ... ie. 30, 40 year plus mine life, discount significant amounts of their reserves to net present value.
What really counts is the low-hanging fruit of ounces that can be mined economically/profitably in the first 15 years, with fast payback on capex and high IRR on invested capital. You get further out on the timeline and additional reserves don't add much unless they justify expanded capacity or an accellerated production schedule.
From the POV of the geologists and m ining engineers, you keep drilling not necessarily because you need more reserves, but because you hope to find higher grade, shallower, better economics before there is a committment to a feasability study or preliminary economic analysis and adesign and proposed production schedule.
What got me perked up about KK's interview last week was his having reason to speculate about "or ... zero overburden" when he was talking about moving NE or over to Eureka. As in maybe they have some very interesting surface sampling results. Second pit, decent grades, no overburden, cha ching, game changer. Just like the fish jumping right into the boat!
cg