mre profitability

The high level numbers are not that bad for MRE if Ni prices remain at current levels or improve. Very basic numbers are below:

Annual Production(MRE share) 20,000 MT
Cash Cost US$5/lb
Exchange Rate 0.90
Cash Profits as below:

Rev/lb(US$) Cash Profit AUD$
8 146,972,369.19
9 195,963,158.93
10 244,953,948.66
11 293,944,738.39

The Ni price is back up to around US$ 7.50/lb so 2010 could see OK profitability and 2011 could be very good if the global economy takes off. With 40 years of mine life remaining there is plenty of resource to be mined when pricing improves.