aurum09 - here is my crude understanding. The halo mineralization (long intercepts of relatively low grade) is hosted in oxides whereas the high grade zones appear to be hosted in sulphides. Oxide-hosted material is easier to process by lower-cost methods, like heap-leaching, whereas the sulphide-hosted material has to be processed using more expensive methods. The metallurgical studies will provide more information on this. So, if it is confirmed that the halo mineralization is hosted in oxides then it increases the probability that the deposit will be economical to mine. Cripple Creek is currently being mined at grades of .25 gpt, I believe. The halo mineralization to date has been showing grades well above that, so proving up the oxides will increase confidence that this discovery will become a mine (someday).

tsl