Ok I have finally tracked through and found my notes on this and...

Ok I have finally tracked through and found my notes on this and spoken with Tony Rovira, done some more research and can clarify and provide more details.

For discussion purposes it is possible to consider an estimate of $30-40 mil capex for Oposura which is based on a comparison with another mine, 60-80 km away from ours. Capex estimates have not been given in official AZS documentation* because it needs to be included in the Oposura PFS (Preliminary Feasibility Study) which is due to be underway by the 3rd quarter this year.

This is the San Felipe mine, a zinc, lead and silver deposit which has a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment used in the Canadian system) and was owned by Santacruz Silver Mining company. It was bought by Americas Silver Corp which paid $15mil. http://www.americassilvercorp.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=781197

The distribution of minerals, concentration and ease of access of San Felipe is nowhere as good as Oposura.  They have 4 million tonnes with 7% of zinc and lead. Also their deposits are deeper. Ours are surface deposits which will be open cut and room and pillar will be used. R&P is a cheap method of mining and it's used in low depth mining. Obviously the lack of infrastructure around (using the natural geology pillars) makes it cheaper. Mining at depth  is naturally more expensive.

Here is the ann for the PEA http://www.santacruzsilver.com/i/pdf/nr/2014-10-28_NR_lb9a.pdf

To read the PEA you will need to access the consultant's website www.sedar.com
and enter the search requirements.

search database​

search for:  company documents​

company name: Santacruz silver​

industry group: Metals and minerals - All​

document type: technical report​

date of filing: 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2014 (you can specify precise dates from the ann I wasn't bothered)​

The PEA is 318 pages long. You can download it. There is a lot of interesting information on the geology and metallurgy as well.

Mine capex is on p.209
The capital costs are estimated to be approximately $10.8 million for 750 mtpd plant, approximately $15.3 million for 1250 mtpd and approximately $ 27.8 million for 2000 mtpd. see p.208

Mine opex is on p.210
(open pit waste rock mining cost of $2.20/tonne, mineralised mining cost of $2.80/tonne... deeper mining is a lot more at around $32/tonne).
Note those cost discrepancies between mining types, open cut and deeper mining are huge. They give the key to why the economics of any project will turn on specifics. In this case the location of the deposits and Oposura has close to surface deposits.

capital and operating costs is on p.237  

In summary, the capex for San Felipe is around $36 million, to build a mine, mill and infrastructure.

When you deduct working capital off that, you get $27 million for that capex.  So $30-40 million as possible estimate for  Oposura doesn't seem so totally unthinkable.

San Felipe is a useful comparison because it is scheduled to produce 500k tonnes per annum. Similar to Oposura.

There is a lot of information in there which is useful.

(*I apologise again to anyone who was caught by my not rechecking my documentation earlier.
It's been a busy time of year. I said I would go back and look at it in detail and I have.
At least I owned up, as I always do if I make an error and that's more than many in here ever do. ​

Also would people stop making personal attacks based on what they imagine is going on in other threads?
The situation there is much more complex than you have any understanding of.) ​