eg there is reference to a new 'service shaft' that will increase haul capacity by 300tpd.
I see that this new service shaft is likely going in beside the L8 shaft. So there will be 2 shafts side by side allowing the main shaft to be in operation more of the time for men and main ore hauling and the service shaft to allow support activities and light supplementary ore haulage of 300tpd.
If you look at slide 10 you can see 2 shafts shown where L8 shaft is currently. So I am now assuming that the second shaft is this new service shaft.
Other new info:
Level 1-5 mined out in approx 5 years
L8 shaft mined out in approx 10 years
L16 shaft not mentioned. It's location has been under consideration for the past 6 months or more and is due to be released with the LoM haulage study. It can be assumed to be in a new location to the existing shafts, be servicing mainly Levels 9-16 and to extend the life of the mine well beyond the 10 years mentioned for the L8 shaft.
Co-O is a long life mine despite the views of some institutions who look at the published reserves and resources and think that is all the gold present. But underground high grade vein mining is completely different from the more usual low grade open pit gold mines they are more familiar with and where the average grade may by only 1 or 1.5 gm/t. Open pit mines do a lot of resource drilling up front before any development of a mine. Medusa's type of mine typically may operate for decades but have no more than a year or two of resources confirmed by drilling at any one time. A similar mine to Co-O at Norseman in WA, had a mine life of 50 years! So this LoM haulage study is to some extent for the institutions!
As each week goes by the pace of planning and development is stepping up.
Any predator who may have been tempted to launch a derisory bid a few months ago at $1/share has lost his opportunity and will have to offer much more with every passing quarter if progress is maintained.
MML Price at posting:
80.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
