Since ECU's scoping study is expected soon, it may be interesting to estimate what it will contain. From what I understand, this report will study the profitability of a 1,500 tpd sulphide mill. Following are the average metal grades for our sulphide ore, estimated % recovery, and current prices.
Gold - 2.07 g/t, 70% recovery, $1275/oz
Silver - 154 g/t, 60% recovery, $20.80/oz
Lead - 1.61%, 60% recovery, $0.99/lb
Zinc - $1.96%, 45% recovery, $0.96/lb
As far as revenues are concerned, I will assume 90% of contained metal for the lead and zinc concentrates and 60% for the pyrite concentrate. I will also assume that all of the gold ends up in the pyrite and that 75% of the silver stays in the lead and zinc concentrates with the remaining 25% ending up in the pyrite.
For the above metal grades and recoveries, and a 1500 tpd mill, the following amounts of metal will be recovered each month:
Gold = 2097 oz
Silver = 133,698 oz
Lead = 958,513 lbs
Zinc = 875,164 lbs
The total monthly revenue for this production using the above assumptions is $5,508,639. The equivalent silver production is 264,838 ounces per month or 3.18 million ounces per year. Please keep in mind that this is from the proposed 1500 tpd mill and ECU will still be running the existing 550 and 320 tpd mills which earlier this week I showed have te potential for monthly revenue of $2.967 million. This would put total monthly revenue at $8.47 million ($102 million per year). Also note that these numbers are based on our average grades, and that higher revenue is possible if we high grade.
One probable downside to my projected numbers is that the scoping study will probably use metal prices below existing market. It will also be interesting to see what the projected cost is for a 1500 tpd mill and the monthly ammoritized cost. Regards,
Argoz
