Peter Brotherhood is going to come into its own with that.
It will be at least March before they start turning a profit as they are still effectively commisioning at the moment and arent yet at steady state production, once they hit full production they should be making a small profit.
And that aside they have started drilling and blasting, if you look on todays shot of the processing plant at 17:30, on the top bench there is a blasthole rig.
A delay in the drilling process? This isn't an oil well! The drilliers may well have been delayed from starting as there is no need for them yet. The ground at Hemerdon starts off very soft - They had built up a large stockpile of ore during just the initial earthworks. You don't need to start drilling and blasting until you hit hard ground, if they haven't hit it and are still stockpiling ore, thats a potentially positive thing not negative.
To put some perspective on it, it is anticipated that Hemerdon will produce 500 tonnes of tin per annum, the current price is just under $15,000 per tonne, which means that Wolf will recieve $7.5 million dollars per annum for the tin, less royalties, smelter and marketing costs, so probably about $6 million per annum for the tin.
I think you have misinterpreted the companies information Devonmaid, [link] check out page 22of the latest presentation, its broken down nicely.
mining cost $64/MTU; Processing cost $53/mtu; Admin costs $12/mtu; Royalties $15/mtu; Rehabilitation $4/mtu, giving a total ongoing production cost of $148/mtu. The debt servicing costs are $42/mtu, giving a total prodction cost until the debt is repaid of $190/mtu of APT. The tin credits are valued at $20/MTU of APT produced (Theres a lot of variables in that figure), which means the breakeven figure for the mine is approximately $170/MTU of APT.
I'm not sure where the idea that the tin credits will pay the mining costs came from, but that is NOT true, from the companies last presentation, the figures are as follows:
banksman, you're in luck - I'm an engineer for an electricity co, if it is a new pole then planning permission MAY be required - it is the electricity distributor who applies for it, not the landowner - the electricity co will have certain permitted development powers that may enable them to install a transformer without permission. Pole mounted transformers are not noisy at all - most make no perceptible sound whatsoever. If they are proposing to install it on a pole already in your garden, I suggest you speak to the electricity DNO and ask to talk to talk to the wayleave/consents officer for your area. If you're in the South West/South Wales/ or Midlands its Western Power Distribution, South East is UK Power Networks, Southern England is Scottish and Souther Electricity - I'm not sure if you're up North, but you should be able to find it easy enough.
its a block cave, this means there is a lot of develpment work preparing the cave, ptting in development drives and infrastructure. Once its prepared its easy, you start drilling and blasting, the ore comes down and you load it on the conveyor - mining cost per tonne is about the cheapest form of underground mining going.