Just quick math here: we will need 2T to make a profit of 450$ or 225 per ton gross profit. If smelter costs are 500M, then you will need 2.222M tons to break even. Now, this does not include processing costs of about 30$ per ton producedoro 15$ per ton of raw ore. This would mean that you need 2.38M tons. Now you have the NPV to consider and also need to build in a healthy profit margin to make the investment worth while. So from a laymen in this type of situation, I cannot see anyone spending this kind of money unless they are sitting on 20M tons minimum. I am just throwing numbers out here so do not bash too hard...

Cheers,

Glorieux