The recently completed prefeasibility study, compiled by mining consultants Sandwell Swan Wooster, used a 1,500-tonne-per-day operation fed by both open pit and underground operations. It is estimated that 800,000 tonnes are amenable to open pit mining.
Capital costs for the southeast Yukon property were estimated at $49.8 million. That cost includes construction of a 48-km road as well as a 40-m river crossing.
Milling costs were estimated at $11.50 per tonne. No costs were given for transportation of concentrates.
Barytex Resources (VSE) is earning a 45% interest in the property from Breakwater by completing $2 million in expenditures by June, 1993.
Breakwater had previously calculated a drill-indicated mineral inventory of 6.9 million tonnes grading 6.77% zinc, 1.92% lead, and 49.64% barite to a depth of 500 m. The objective of the prefeasibility study was to identify any potential problems and to provide capital and operating cost data.
Barytex is conducting a 6,000-ft drilling program this winter in an effort to further delineate current reserves and to drill prospective areas below the reserve.
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