addiehall UFX has pretty well nailed it. An airleg stope can be...

addiehall
UFX has pretty well nailed it. An airleg stope can be as narrow as around one metre with the gold bearing veins being somewhat less in mines such as the RoD so the grade of the auriferous shoot is diluted to the extent of the barren rock that must be taken with it. Hand sorting is difficult as, ideally, the shot rock should be sugar like to facilitate draw down and subsequent processing. The alternative is to spread the blast pattern producing larger fragmentation so that a degree of high grading can be undertaken. This is labour intensive and lends itself to gold theft. Until such time that further drilling can demonstrate sufficient ore of mineable grade to warrant processing the mine remains as an interesting prospect.
The company appears keen on keeping news flow happening but one has to wonder how far away is the next capital raising.