Hi nickpYes, I have done some work in this area and asked a few...

Hi nickp

Yes, I have done some work in this area and asked a few questions. From what I understand from a long term perspective is that the grades should improve over the life of the mine, his is because in the early to middle years there is more development ore produced than in the later years.

According to the company there are two sources of 'Head' grade material and the Ore which is processed through the mill is made up of Development material which is about 1g/t and the Stope material which is should be about 5.5g/t.

The end Head Grade is then dependent on the ratio of of stope material to development material being feed into the plant.

I was also told by the company that in the past (under the contractors) there has been some poor mining of stopes, ie too much waste being taken out with the reef, thus diluting the grade. This had nothing to do with the ore body, but was poor mining discipline. I understand that the issue of mining discipline is being currently addressed by the company and grades are coming up, and this should continue to improve as the company improves work force practices.

The company suggested there were various ways they are addressing this through improved supervision and incentives.

My personal forecast for the March quarter is a Head Grade of 4.1 g/t 4E (however this is probably a little optimistic). I guess we'll know in a couple of days.

Cheers

Gus