FNX, Dynatec release McCreedy West reserve (August 04, 2003)

Newly minted nickel producers FNX Mining (FNX-T) and Dynatec (DY-T) have released a reserve figure for four mineralized zones at the McCreedy West property, on the northwestern fringe of the Sudbury structure.

Three of the four zones — the Upper Main, Inter Main and East Main — together make up a probable resource of 1.1 million tonnes grading 1.91% nickel and 0.23% copper. The fourth, the Footwall 700 Zone, has a probable resource of 108,000 tonnes running 0.75% nickel and 6.83% copper, plus 5.8 grams combined platinum-palladium-gold per tonne.

The reserve assumes a mining recovery of 95% and dilution of 0.9 metre of wall rock, and depending on the planned mining method, the economic cutoff grade is 1% to 1.4% nickel-equivalent in the Main zones and 1.6% nickel-equivalent in the Footwall 700. The calculation assumes prices of US$1,980 per tonne for copper, US$7,700 per tonne for nickel, US$525 per oz. for platinum, US$350 per oz. for palladium, and US$350 per oz. for gold.

The reserve estimate is part of a larger resource at the McCreedy West mine, which the partners reactivated in May. The three Main zones have an indicated resource of 1.1 million tonnes grading 2.23% nickel and 0.26% copper, plus an inferred resource of 287,000 tonnes grading 1.7% nickel and 0.44% copper.

The resources in the Main zones are based on a 1% nickel-equivalent cutoff grade — using the same prices as in the reserve calculation — and a minimum true width of 2.4 metres.

The Footwall 700 and Footwall 950 zones together make up an indicated resource of 602,000 tonnes with 2.6% copper, 0.37% nickel, 2.4 grams platinum, 2.4 grams palladium, and 0.7 gram gold. There are about 7,500 tonnes in inferred resources in the Footwall 700 zone, grading 7.44% copper, 0.85% nickel, 2.7 grams platinum, 4.1 grams palladium, and 2.1 grams gold.

The Footwall 700 zone has been defined with a cutoff grade of 1.6% nickel-equivalent and a minimum true width of 1.8-2.1 metres, depending on the dip. In the Footwall 950 zone, the estimate uses a cutoff grade of 0.75% nickel-equivalent over 2.4 metres true width.

Two other zones, PM and Boundary, do not figure in the new estimates. A 9,000-metre program of resource drilling, on 15- to 25-metre centres, is under way on the PM zone.

Print

Be the first to comment on "FNX, Dynatec release McCreedy West reserve (August 04, 2003)"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*


By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. To learn more, click more information

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.

Close