Second ball mill ready for Yukon's Minto

Vancouver-based Sherwood Copper has acquired a second ball mill for its Minto copper-gold project in the Yukon, the company announced Jan. 5. The 10.5-foot by 12-foot Allis Chalmers ball mill was purchased from ASARCO for US$75,000, including a 900 horsepower motor, drive assembly, lubrication system and scoop feeder. This ball mill is a twin to the one that is already at the Minto site.

Preliminary grinding studies indicated that the current plant design was capable of processing an average of 1,564 metric tons of ore per day, while the addition of the second ball mill could increase throughput to approximately 2,000 to 2,200 metric tons per day. The second ball mill will remain in storage in Arizona for the present.

Sherwood also announced that it has been granted an amendment to its Quartz Mining License from the Yukon government that extends the expiry date to June 30, 2016. Construction of a mine at Minto by previous owners was suspended in the late 1990s due to low copper prices. Infrastructure such as accommodation and an 18-mile access road already exist at the site. Independent consultants Hatch are updating the historic feasibility study for Minto that was completed by ASARCO in 1995 and reviewed by Hatch in 2000.

The Minto project contains measured and indicated resources of 9.2 million tons at a grade of 1.8 percent copper, 0.016 ounces per ton gold and 0.2 ounces per ton silver, and an additional inferred resource of 0.8 million tons grading 1.4 percent copper, 0.013 ounces per ton gold and 0.2 ounces per ton silver.