Okay.. Dsikorsk...Let's try those prices ($2.97 cu, $16.80 Mo, $1256 Au, $20.39 Ag). All other factors kept constant per my previous example this AM..... Still negative cost Cu!

The metal prices are probably the greatest wild card. 4 metals with different grades at SC but very different prices and price curves make this a constantly shifting excercise.

A) Total Mining Costs All Metals $10,572,514,460

B) Non-Cu Metal Sales Credits $12,230,906,869

C) Lbs Cu 6,146,884,279

Production cost per lbs Cu net other metals (A-B)/C= -$0.27

And... while we are at it...I also have what I call "Don Lindsay's test prices". These depressed prices could be used to test the SC project for times of depressed metal markets to see if SC would still be able to make money in bad times. This, I think is very important as suspending production and re-starting months later is expensive in itself (some fixed costs happen whether your are operating or not) and can be hard on equipment that hasn't run for a while and the workforce can start to migrate away.

I think Don L could be happy with these numbers....

"DL test Prices": $2.50 Cu, $11.32 Mo, $1000 Au, $18.24 Ag

A) Total Mining Costs All Metals $10,572,514,460

B) Non-Cu Metal Sales Credits $9,245,857,319

C) Lbs Cu 6,146,884,279

Production cost per lbs Cu net other metals (A-B)/C = $0.22 (positive Cu cost)

dyodd