Production is scheduled for 1997 at the Canatuan massive sulphide deposit, on Mindanao Island in the Philippines, following completion of a final feasibility study for TVI Pacific (TSE).
The study recommended two production phases. In the first phase, gossan ore will be mined at a rate of 1,000 tonnes per day, with gold and silver extracted from the oxidized material. In the second phase, the operation will begin mining primary (unoxidized) massive sulphide ore for copper, zinc, gold and silver. The mine will produce ore at 850 tonnes per day in the second phase.
The first phase should last three years; the second, five years. Over the 8-year mine life, the annual cash flow should average US$10 million.
Capital costs for Phase 1 are estimated at US$23.2 million, and additional costs for Phase 2 will likely approach US$6.6 million.
The deposit will be mined by open-pit methods, with a stripping ratio of 3.01 in gossan ore and 2.13 in primary ore. The pit will have a minable reserve of 827,000 tonnes of oxide ore, grading 4 grams gold and 141 grams silver per tonne, as well as 1.5 million tonnes of sulphide ore grading 2.87% copper, 2.13% zinc, 1.3 grams gold and 58 grams silver.
A pilot-scale cyanide-leach plant with carbon-in-leach recovery is being commissioned for metallurgical tests.
At the Kingking porphyry copper project in southeastern Mindanao, TVI and partner Echo Bay Mines (TSE) have budgeted US$14.7 million for exploration, of which TVI’s share is 25%. The budget will be spent mainly on 45,000 metres of drilling to increase the known mineral reserve. Previous operator Benguet (NYSE) estimated the gross resource at 315 million tonnes grading 0.44% copper and 0.52 gram gold.
Three holes, recently drilled in an area previously suspected to be barren, encountered copper mineralization with grades of 0.24-0.3% over core lengths of 237-293 metres. The companies believe the results indicate there is considerable potential to find mineralization along lateral and depth extensions of the known Kingking resource.
TVI also announced it has filed a preliminary prospectus for a share offering to raise funds for further exploration in the Philippines.
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