The other factors were better ore grade at Veladero and the fixed sharing mechanism at San Dimas.
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However, it is important that investors do take serious note of how steep the decline in ore grade has been.
Finally, Alfred Little states that the ore grade has declined significantly.
Another challenge, Denbow said, is that when companies find higher ore-grade deposits, they are often far under the ground, making them more difficult and more dangerous to mine.
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Some growth has been companies processing lower-grade ore that may not have been feasible at lower gold prices, analysts said.
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This is due to lower throughput capacity at Goldstrike in Nevada as autoclaves are modified, along with mining in lower-grade ore zones at several mines.
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Copper-market analysts believe that Zaire's high-grade ore could help create a world surplus of copper by the end of the decade, and bring prices down heavily.
They too want to reopen some of their closed mines to look for low-grade ore, and plan to expand production through joint ventures with international players.
This is expected to be driven mainly by cost savings in Indonesia where higher grade ore and economies of scale will bring down costs by nearly 50%.
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Newmont attributed the lower production to the processing of lower grade ore from stockpiles as it prepared for a new phase of mining at the vast open pit in the mountains of Sumbawa.
Newmont has attributed the lower production to the processing of lower grade ore from stockpiles as it prepares for a new phase of mining at the vast open pit in the mountains of Sumbawa.
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Low-grade uranium ore will be extracted at the Saghand mines and turned into purer uranium, known as yellowcake, at nearby Ardakan.
The declining grade of copper ore, a simultaneous increase in costs and political problems are other major problems facing Freeport.
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The current phase of production at the Ekati Diamond Mine includes ore sourced primarily from the lower grade, but high carat value, Fox open pit supplemented by underground production from the lower portion of the Koala kimberlite pipe and from the Koala North pipe.
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Although production in the next two years is forecast to be lower than the average achieved over the last five years, it is expected to return to higher levels as the mine transitions to higher grade, but lower carat value, ore from the Misery and Pigeon open pits.
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While it has depleted its stocks of "reactor-grade" plutonium needed to make the weapons-grade variety, the country has plentiful reserves of uranium ore.
While we focused on waste removal, our ore release from the open pit suffered and we dipped into our lower-grade stockpile to feed the mill.
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Freeport blamed this drop largely on changes to mine plans at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which delayed access to higher-grade material, and a slower-than-expected ramp-up at the Deep Ore Zone underground mind.
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