Moving on then from our failed attempt to own FWR, with regards to the mining of NOT's Eagle's Nest, as a reminder, important things to continue to bear in mind:
- The straight-down tidy ribbon-like structure will make underground mining very straightforward and relatively low cost. You can push down a shaft parallel to the structure and access and muck out the ore with short addits and hoist it to surface.
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It is far cheaper to hoist out ore than to haul it out with underground mining trucks via a ramp (think of Windfall). Using diesel-powered underground mining trucks is much more expensive to due fuel cost, additional ventilation requirements, and equipment maintenance. With hoist, you only have to worry about the cost associated with running the hoist, which is powered electric motors on surface. The cost advantage is so much greater using a hoist, that in some case mining companies have driven down a ramp (for shallow deposits) to access the orebody, but have then pushed down a shaft to hoist it out the ore, rather than haul it out via the ramp.
- The difference in cost, once you are underground, in mining at say the 1000m as compared to the 2000m level is "incremental" not "exponential". It is costly to put in the shaft, but once it is in, the costs to operate and go deeper are quite low.
And as I previously mentioned, the most important thing to keep in mind when dealing with those ill-informed or misguided indiviuals who say that Eagle's Nest is too deep, is that we will not have to put down a shaft to, say, 2000m to reach a deposit and begin mining at that level. Rather, we will begin mining effectively at surface and push down to possibly 2000m or 3000M (if it goes that deep) as we mine the deposit downwards. That is a critical and key distinction, and those who are arguing "too deep" are confused about this difference or distinction. In addition, mining down to 10000ft (3000m) is not a problem, although it will be hot down there.
Therefore, as I am sure already aware, if Eagle's Nest is eventually proven to down to 2500 - 3000m, and we end-up with something like 20 - 30MT, or more, of 2% nickel, as well as PGEs, (NOT) will be quite valuable.
Regards,
B.
