UPDATE on TVI

Here is an important update that was posted on Facebook and i think it is crucial to be fully understand.

Last quarter tvi had a EBITDA of close to 5M$ and when the 1 time event repayment and depreciation of the loan expenses is taken into account it is only a 0,002 cent per share.

So this is another great quarter. They are still working on the zinc circuit as it is a very complex ore body that they have to work with. It has to be tested then circuit stopped to do the change than tested and so on until final recipe produce the results expected.

Also please note that % of copper goes along with that. If you cannot remove correctly the zinc from the ore, then you % of copper is less important.

So be sure to watch for complete review mid next week and expect the blog to get back to regular updates as summer is near the end and it's time to have fun again!

Here is the update from tvi facebook:

It is important for us to try our best to offer clear, easy to understand information on our business. In line with that practice, we would like to offer this update to our zinc circuit commissioning process.



When we changed the shipping schedule from every 4 weeks to around every 6 weeks it was because, in addition to possible concentrate shipping delays, we expected there would be interruptions in production while we commissioned the zinc circuit. Much like the copper circuit commissioning process, we expected the zinc circuit commissioning to take several months, perhaps longer. This is normal for all mines that commission circuits of any kind. Commissioning circuits for “complex” VMS ore – which is what we are dealing with at Canatuan, can take even longer, in some cases much longer. For reference, the copper circuit commissioning started in mid November of 2008 and wasn’t completed until May 2009 – six months. During the commissioning process there are plant starts and stops, and for varying periods the circuit is suspended while plant and process ‘tweaking’ is carried out. The objective is to continuously make changes until the largest volume of concentrate is produced with the highest grade and with the best metal recovery, taking into consideration a number of factors.

Long before we started the commissioning process on April 30, extensive metallurgical testing of the Canatuan ores was conducted by reputable third parties and a ‘recipe’ involving combinations of reagents and plant configurations for the process flow sheet was decided. It was this initial process flow sheet that was tested in the initial commissioning process. In the early stages of the zinc circuit commissioning in May, it was found that acceptable copper/zinc separation was not being achieved using the ‘recipe’ we had initially chosen. As a result, additional metallurgical testing has been carried out to determine a better ‘recipe’ for the process flow sheet. Based on the additional test results we have been continually making plant process flow sheet adjustments - which is part of the normal commissioning process, while at the same time continuing and optimizing daily copper concentrate production. This has involved plant starts and stops. We believe we are in the final stages of the testing and expect to implement a revised process flow sheet soon which we hope will be successful. Having said that, we fully expect that commissioning of this revised flow sheet will continue until we achieve the results we are looking for from both the copper and the zinc circuits in the plant.

So, commissioning is a process that takes time and involves testing a number of variables until acceptable, optimum results are achieved. We feel it would be unusual for us to report every step of the commissioning process along the way.

Because of the commissioning process (which involves as mentioned in the report, periodic interruptions with the mill) we could not resume shipping every 4 weeks. We expected (and continue to expect) that with successful separation of the zinc from the copper, the copper concentrate will have a higher grade.