A construction company has been contracted to supply the gravel needed to construct a road. The company has identified two sites to extract the gravel. The first site is 10 km and the second site is 13 km, from the storage site. The company has to pay a once-off licence fee to the local authorities for the entire extraction period of $95 000 for the first site and $50 000 for the second site. The cost of setting up and removing the equipment for the first site is $700 000 and for the second site is $270 000. The transportation cost of gravel from the first site to the storage site is $300/m3 and from the second site is $450/m3. On both sites, a security guard is needed, who will be paid $2000 per week. The Job requires 200 000 cubic metres of quarry stones, and it is estimated that the job needs four months (17 weeks of six working days per week) to be completed

a) Indicate the difference between the two sites in terms of their fixed, variable, and total costs using a table format.

b) Choose a better option for the gravel extraction location between sites A and B, and why?

c) For the selected site, calculate the quantity of gravel in cubic metres that the contractor has to deliver before starting to make a profit if paid $304 per cubic metre delivered to the job location?