A feasibility study for the Minto copper-gold-silver project in the Yukon is complete, and Minto Explorations (VSE) expects to make a production decision in the near future.
Proven and probable reserves total 8.78 million tons grading 1.76% copper, 0.015 oz. gold and 0.22 oz. silver per ton.
The study calls for a 525,000-ton-per-year, open-pit and milling operation, with bulk concentrate trucked to the port of Skagway in Alaska.
The capital cost is estimated at $26 million, with working capital projected at $3.8 million.
During the first five years of the 12-year mine life, annual output is projected at 27 million lb. copper, 10,000 oz. gold and 160,000 oz. silver. Production levels are based on recoveries of 95% for copper, 75% for gold and 85% for silver.
Based on a gold price of US$380 per oz., a silver price of US$5 per oz. and an exchange rate of 1.35, cash production costs (net of credits) are estimated at US59 cents per lb. copper. The estimate is based on a cash cost of $19.69 per ton milled, including corporate overhead; it does not include interest, trucking or smelting charges.
Permitting is under way and Minto is evaluating various sources of financing.
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