Hey Lar,

You talk like a process engineer. excellent post, lots of relevant info!

I have also replied to Chauncey post, looking from a macro-economic point of view, i.e. scale is much larger which would cost a lot more than the Ni case but did not go deep in the fluid mechanics details (turbulent/laminar flow and clogging up the pipe, etc). I did touch on the abrasive issue, but did not do any in-depth research.

Ni would fetch more $$$ anyway. As I recall, their plan is to start with Ni first and then puch a hole through to get at chromite. Yes, trucks would be more economical and NOT would wait for the N-S RR to be available to put the stuff on the train. They don't need to truck it too far to KWG railhead at Koper Lake. May be they want to buy the next door claims from FNC to put a squeeze on CLF (they are boxed in, can't get their chromite out if they don't want to negotiate nicely).

Anything is possible, but it has to be economical.

goldhunter