Gold producer Orvana Minerals (ORV-T) has increased the historical estimate on its copper deposit in Michigan by 12%.
A National Instrument 43-101 resource for Orvana’s Copperwood deposit demonstrates measured and indicated resources of 19.5 million tonnes grading 1.86% copper for contained copper of 798 million pounds, and an additional 3.3 million tonnes in the inferred category grading 1.49% copper for 107 million pounds of copper.
The new numbers will be incorporated into a preliminary economic assessment due out in June. They will also be used to evaluate earlier trade-off studies and refine the company’s conceptual mine plan. Over the last year Orvana has undertaken various trade-off studies to evaluate mine and tailings impoundment designs, assess water sources, waste management and transportation alternatives.
The resource estimate was based on 119 drill holes totaling 18,885 metres, of which 85 holes or 13,425 metres were drilled by Orvana. The remaining drill holes were historical.
Copperwood is about 30 km southwest of the inactive White Pine mine, where between 1953 and 1996 more than 1.7 million tonnes of copper and over 4.5 million oz. silver were produced.
Copperwood’s stratiform copper mineralization is hosted in shales and siltstones of the basal Nonesuch Formation and is stratigraphically equivalent to the copper-bearing zone at the White Pine mine. The mineralization occurs as very fine-grained chalcocite
The mineralized area is open to the southwest but truncated to the south by subcrop, to the north and east by a stratigraphic pinch out, and to the west by the lake shore.
In addition to copper, the Copperwood deposit contains silver ranging from 5 grams per tonne to 7 grams per tonne in the Domino and Upper Layer.
Copperwood is situated along the southern flank of the west-northwest-plunging Western Syncline and has option agreements on three other mineralized areas within it.
In addition to Copperwood, Orvana owns and operates the copper-gold Don Mario mine in Bolivia and is developing the advanced-stage El Valle-Boinás/Carles gold-copper project in northern Spain.
At presstime Orvana was trading at $1.05 per share and over the last 52 weeks has traded in a range of 60¢-$1.22 per share.
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