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Operating Costs
Revenue estimated from the non-acetic option is $406/t of mineralized material against operating costs of $201/t with operating cash flow of $205/t.
Table 3 - Summary of Operating Costs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Per tonne ofItems mineralized material----------------------------------------------------------------------------Revenue $ 406----------------------------------------------------------------------------Operating Costs:----------------------------------------------------------------------------Revenue-based royalties $ 18----------------------------------------------------------------------------Mining & dewatering $ 60----------------------------------------------------------------------------Processing $ 103----------------------------------------------------------------------------G&A $ 4----------------------------------------------------------------------------Contingency $ 16---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 201----------------------------------------------------------------------------Operating Cash Flow $ 205----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnage of Yearly Commodity Production with Price Assumptions used for Revenue Estimates
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- YearlyCompound production (t) Price----------------------------------------------------------------------------U3O8 532 $ 60/lb----------------------------------------------------------------------------NH4VO3 2,137 $ 9/kg----------------------------------------------------------------------------H3PO4 (Phosphoric acid) 63,485 $ 1/kg----------------------------------------------------------------------------Y(OH)3 257 $ 50/kg----------------------------------------------------------------------------NiCO3 1,482 $ 9.25/lb----------------------------------------------------------------------------Nd(OH)3 33 $ 50/kg----------------------------------------------------------------------------Mo 136 $ 12/lb----------------------------------------------------------------------------Zn 1,534 $ 0.89/lb----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The uranium price is the average reported price for long-term contracts over the previous 12 months. Other commodities are based on current international market prices. A benefit of the ferric leach process used to extract the elements at Berlin is that a solution is generated from which metal salts are readily produced. In some cases, metal salts command a higher price than the metal itself. The salt prices vary widely with purity. In all cases, the lowest available price or conservative estimates are used. Since there is no quoted price for yttrium and neodymium hydroxides, a greater than 25% discount is applied to the one-year average oxide price to allow for the conversion of the hydroxide to oxide. Where reliable pricing for the salt was unavailable, the associated metal price is used to ensure conservative price assumptions, e.g. Mo and Zn.
