tinhat
Pocket Calculator Operator
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- 1 May 2009
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I thought BC Iron had premium product, the reason for their discount was a purchase agreement with some Chinese company which funded the initial capital costs, and they simply aggregated the sales price of both the stuff at 100% price, and the discounted stuff to the Chinese company.
I believe the "Bonnie Fines" product (as it is marketed) of the Nullagine Joint Venture is 57% Fe. From the resource update released in March (p3):
Page 2 states:Ore Reserves were estimated by completing pit optimisations and subsequent detailed pit designs. Two cut-off
grades were applied, with waste characterised as being below 55% Fe or above 3% Al2O3. These parameters
were derived to achieve a product grade of 57% Fe and 2% Al2O3, which is the desired product specification
for the NJV based on marketing studies.
I don't know what that means exactly; whether it means that they have already mined higher grade ore that they have reserved for blending with what they will extract over the remainder of the mine life.The DSO Mineral Resource is reported using cut-off grades between
52% and 56% Fe, which were selected to achieve a 57% Fe specification grade.
The report also states (p3):
Current undiluted Ore Reserves are comprised entirely of DSO material. A dry crushing and screening process
is being utilised at the NJV, which was selected based on bulk sampling and metallurgical test work
undertaken as part of the feasibility study. Processing recoveries are effectively 100%.
All material assumptions relating to costs are based on existing agreements with contractors. The terms of
these agreements are considered commercially sensitive and are not publicly disclosed. However, BC Iron has
provided C1 cash cost guidance of A$46-50 per wet metric tonne over the life of mine. C1 cash costs exclude
royalties, marketing and corporate costs.
http://www.bciron.com.au/images/fil...eserves-and-Mineral-Resources-31-Dec-2013.pdf
Regarding the "quality" of Bonnie Fines, I've read stuff from BCI about "pisolite sinter blend", low Al, Si, S and blah, blah that make this product attractive to smelters but I know nothing about anything. An analyst told me that the BCI product is sold at 15% discount to 62%FE.
I'm just wondering if I have my all-in sustaining cost figure for the JV right at around $53-4. The most recent guidance* (a week or two back) was for total cash costs closer to $50. They prepaid a whole chunk of forward rail freight a while ago so I'm not sure how that affects the ongoing all in sustaining cost.
* http://clients2.weblink.com.au/clients/bciron/article.asp?asx=BCI&view=6678382