I spoke with CEO Paul Thompson Wednesday night, 12-11-19, around 6
30 pm as he as having his supper - that meal of Cheerios and a banana that Belgie mentioned. His other GoTo nightly meal is Mac and Cheese.
While others rant on about his annual "take" the facts tell another story - at least as I have seen them to be on a trip to the mine several years ago and via quite a few phone conversations. He's a frugal guy who "makes do" in his personal life and with equipment he and Paul Jr fabricate in the Walnut Grove shops and on site. They create some pretty sophisticated machinery out of new and salvaged parts, electric motors, actuators, relays and hydraulic pumps and cylinders.
He said things are going good. A Merrill-Crowe plant involves a lot of pumps, motors, and pipes and valves. Many separate components needed to move the pregnant solution thru the stages till the gray precipitate is captured by the filter press leafs.
It's a big plumbing and chemistry project . As with any complex plumbing project lots of places for leaks and they are taking care of some of leaks in water and vacuum lines. Paul said they have all the equipment needed and the skills to perform every step needed in a the long process. In his words they can do everything but can't do it all at once just yet. Nothing is as good in the first month as it'll be in the fourth or fifth month so there is still some tweaking going no. No stoppers just improvement in everything over the next weeks and months.
The weather and heavy rain definitely affected ops - but concentrations in the pregnant pond are rising now and higher grade ore is being loaded. All trends are in the right direction.
They'll be doing some realignment of the haul road to make for faster and safer ore hauling from the Lucky Strike pit to the crush circuit on northwest end of the leach pad. The distance is relatively short and that's a big advantage for haul time and diesel usage.
There will not be a total shutdown over Christmas - some functions are continuous and some crew will always be on site. All workers in Mexico receive Alguinaldo - a two week bonus paid at Christmas and Mexus workers will receive that payment in addition to their pay for hours worked. It's more than tradition - it's mandated. .
Know that Paul, Cesar and crew are working hard to bring this mine into full operation - it's a true boot strap effort . While we look at share price hour by hour they are doing the real work of turning ore into precious metal and that process is improving day by day.
I wished Paul and crew a Merry Christmas and let him get back to his Cheerios - hope they weren't too soggy. I did fail to get one key bit of info -- "Honey Nut" or "Regular"? Sorry - it's hard to remember all the key questions and I flubbed in on that bit of intel.
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rjw/mkc
30 pm as he as having his supper - that meal of Cheerios and a banana that Belgie mentioned. His other GoTo nightly meal is Mac and Cheese.
While others rant on about his annual "take" the facts tell another story - at least as I have seen them to be on a trip to the mine several years ago and via quite a few phone conversations. He's a frugal guy who "makes do" in his personal life and with equipment he and Paul Jr fabricate in the Walnut Grove shops and on site. They create some pretty sophisticated machinery out of new and salvaged parts, electric motors, actuators, relays and hydraulic pumps and cylinders.
He said things are going good. A Merrill-Crowe plant involves a lot of pumps, motors, and pipes and valves. Many separate components needed to move the pregnant solution thru the stages till the gray precipitate is captured by the filter press leafs.
It's a big plumbing and chemistry project . As with any complex plumbing project lots of places for leaks and they are taking care of some of leaks in water and vacuum lines. Paul said they have all the equipment needed and the skills to perform every step needed in a the long process. In his words they can do everything but can't do it all at once just yet. Nothing is as good in the first month as it'll be in the fourth or fifth month so there is still some tweaking going no. No stoppers just improvement in everything over the next weeks and months.
The weather and heavy rain definitely affected ops - but concentrations in the pregnant pond are rising now and higher grade ore is being loaded. All trends are in the right direction.
They'll be doing some realignment of the haul road to make for faster and safer ore hauling from the Lucky Strike pit to the crush circuit on northwest end of the leach pad. The distance is relatively short and that's a big advantage for haul time and diesel usage.
There will not be a total shutdown over Christmas - some functions are continuous and some crew will always be on site. All workers in Mexico receive Alguinaldo - a two week bonus paid at Christmas and Mexus workers will receive that payment in addition to their pay for hours worked. It's more than tradition - it's mandated. .
Know that Paul, Cesar and crew are working hard to bring this mine into full operation - it's a true boot strap effort . While we look at share price hour by hour they are doing the real work of turning ore into precious metal and that process is improving day by day.
I wished Paul and crew a Merry Christmas and let him get back to his Cheerios - hope they weren't too soggy. I did fail to get one key bit of info -- "Honey Nut" or "Regular"? Sorry - it's hard to remember all the key questions and I flubbed in on that bit of intel.
.
rjw/mkc
1
