The future for the mine

Here is the latest news on the mine copied from the Ely Times, from an article this week.


Robinson Mine eyes future as copper prices plummet
By Kent HarperEly Times Editor
Quadra Mining, Ltd., has $266 million cash on hand and no debt, giving it a “healthy balance-sheet” as the U.S. and global economy enters a downturn, reports the company's president and CEO, Paul Blythe.

This shot of mining activity near Ruth, taken in 1909, shows a Bucyrus-Erie railroad steam shovel loading ore cars. The work was in the Eureka Pit, which in 1916, was merged with the Liberty Pit, now called the Ruth Pit. Quadra Mining, Ltd., has planned to return to the Ruth Pit to work in 2010 as the Veteran Pit reserves are limited, but additional permitting will be required to remove water from the surrounding aquifer, a perennial problem.
“Clearly, the current metal price environment will have an impact on Quadra going forward,” Blythe said in a summary of the Vancouver, Canada-based company's third quarter 2008 financial report.Quadra owns the Robinson Mine near Ruth, and all of the company's revenues, to date, have been generated by the mine.Revenues from Robinson have declined in the third quarter from the same period last year, but the year-to-date revenues still are running above 2007 because of the high price of copper in the first two quarters.Robinson revenues are listed as $115,957,000 in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2008. That's down from the $134,587,000 in revenues during the third quarter of 2007.But for the first nine months of 2008, there was $494,559,000 in revenues, compared to $412,181,000 in the same period during 2007.The report notes the changes in revenues reflect market trends.“Since 2003, the growing demand for copper, particularly in China, coupled with an inability of the copper industry to increase supply due to a lack of immediate development projects, has resulted in decreased global inventories of copper,” the report explains. “The combination of high demand and low inventories, together with a weakening U.S. dollar, led to a substantial increase in the copper price through the first half of 2008. Recent events in the credit markets, together with impact of unwinding speculative long positions and fears of a global recession have led to downward pressure on the price of copper.”During the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, 2008, the spot price for copper has ranged from as high as $4.07 per pound, to as low as $2.85 per pound. But at the end of October this year, the closing spot price for copper had plummeted to $1.81 per pound.Another downward pressure on Quadra's earnings is the time lag in how the copper concentrates price is determined.Revenues from the sales of concentrates are recognized at the time of delivery, which usually is when the ship is loaded at the port of Vancouver, Wash., the report noted. But due to the timing of those shipments, the amount of product sold in any quarter may differ from the actual production at the mine. And final pricing isn't determined until a future date.As each quarter ends, price adjustments are made based on the “payable pounds” actually received by the customer.The payable pounds usually run 3-5 percent “lower than the metal volume actually delivered, and the amount of the deduction varies depending on concentrate grade,” the report added.“This sharp decline in the copper price is an unexpected outcome, and one that has led to full review of our plans for 2009 and beyond,” Blythe said. “Pending completion of this review, which is targeted for the end of November, we will not be in a position to provide production guidance.”Blythe noted that the mine, however, has met all of its current 2008 guidances.“At Robinson, copper and gold production were in line with expectations and we are on track to meet or exceed our 2008 guidance of 150 million pounds of copper and 115,000 ounces of gold. The cash cost per pound produced was $1.21 for the quarter as compared to $1.62 per pound for the same period in 2007 and $1.03 per pound of copper produced for the nine month period ending September 30th 2008.”The review underway may effect the production outlook for the mine.“The Company has been evaluating two options for the Robinson mine plan going forward - either moving to the Ruth pit in 2010 when the existing reserves in the Veteran pit have been mined, or expanding the Veteran pit for an additional phase of mining,” the report says.But recent hydrological work at the Ruth Pit has determined that additional permitting will be needed to remove excess water from the surrounding aquifer, which are above amounts already permitted under the mine's water use permits.Because the permitting process can be lengthy, as well as installing the needed, new equipment, the timing to resume operations in the Ruth Pit would be uncertain.“Furthermore, recent testwork indicates that the concentrate grades from ore mined in the early supergene area of Ruth may not meet the contained copper specification unless this ore is blended with material from another source. As a result, the Company is considering an additional phase of mining in the Veteran Pit, and revising the sequencing of mining operations, which would allow time to obtain the additional permits for the Ruth Pit, and also allow for an orderly blending plan to be executed,” the report continued.But expanding the Veteran Pit and the transition to the Ruth Pit will require a large capital investment, so the plan is being reviewed.The company's future profitability and cash position depends on the price of copper and gold. If the copper price remains low, because of the time lag between delivery and actual pricing, the company could be forced to repay customers as much as $50 million, while “copper put options,” based on the Oct. 31 price of $1.81 per pound would generate only $11 million. The price has dropped since to $1.62.Quadra has cut back its plans for the Sierra Gorda project in Chili and the Malmbjerg project in Greenland, basically putting both on hold until copper prices recover.But leaching activities at the Carlota project began in early October, and first production at that Arizona mine is expected to add some to Quadra's bottom line by the end of the year.Another bit of good-weather news in the economic storm, is the declining price of fuel.The “onsite costs” at the mine increased by $3.3 million in the third quarter because of supplies, which is mostly fuel. But the huge drop in diesel prices can only help in the fourth quarter and in 2009.