Keats Trench Economic Ounces to 150 m DepthKey Dimensions L 200 m by W 70 m D 150 m
S Gravity 2.8 tons per cu m
Cut off 0.38 grams per ton ( V Lake )
Waste Ore 92 % of contained pit ore ( V Lake )
Economic Ore 8 % of Contained ore ( V Lake )
Grade 15.5 grams per ton ( from Mett NR )
We have....
2.1 million Cu meters of ore plus waste ore
2.1 m cu m times 2.8 tons per cu m = 5.9 m tons of ore within open pit
Economic Ore is 5.9 m tons times 8 % = 475,000 tons
Economic Ounces = 475,000 tons times 15.6 grams / 31 =235,000 ounces
At $3500 CAD per ounce, Keats Trench pit by itself to just 150 meters of depth would generate about $800 million in produced revenues.
Raw uncut grades of Keats Main and Iceberg Main are near identical ( 0.67 gms per ton versus 0.69 grams per ton ( 2024 TR ).
Iceberg grades in the top 30 meters are 25 grams per ton..see my previous post ).
Assuming the same grade for top 30 meters of Keats Trench, the estimated contained economic ounces would be 200 X 70 X 30 X 2.8 X 0.08 X 25 / 31 = 75,000 ounces of gold.
This would produce gold to a value of $260 million .
Test mining of 65,000 ton of economic ore with 0.38 gram cutoff would generate 50,000 ounces valued at $175 million CAD .
At such high grades , net margins would be of the order of 65 % = $110 million in free cash flows
Imagine how much equity dilution would be avoided by bootstrapping just 30 meters of Keats Trench, followed by Iceberg Trench followed by the remainer of the 20 prospects .
Each prospect would then have acquired its most efficient ( empirical ) mining productivity index.
FS could then be conducted for extrapolation to depths and areas drilled.
Timidity is the hallmark of an inexperienced management team and/or one that is comfortably indifferent to the investment success of its shareholders.
Which will emerge here ?
AIMHO
GLTA