Mining Explorers 2016: Wellgreen Platinum Ltd.

Wellgreen Platinum Ltd. is endeavoring to develop a mine at its namesake platinum group metals-copper-nickel project located near the Alaska Highway in southwestern Yukon Territory. Towards this goal, the company completed a C$14.1 million financing early in 2016.

Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund, the sole subscriber to the private placement, purchased 70.5 million Wellgreen shares at C20 cents per share. The company raised another C$2 million in a separate private placement at C30 cents per share.

An updated preliminary economic assessment prepared for the Wellgreen project in 2015 outlines plans to start off with a 25,000-metric-tons-per-day operation for the first five years and then scale up to a 50,000-tpd operation for another 20 years.

This mine is anticipated to average 89,518 ounces of platinum; 103,471 oz. palladium; 15,890 oz. gold; 73.1 million pounds nickel; 55.3 million lb. copper; and 3.4 million lb. cobalt annually for the first 16 years of operation before decreasing output towards the end of the planned mine life.

As designed, the metals would be contained in a concentrate that would be sent to a nickel sulfide smelter. The concentrates would be shipped by truck to ports in either Haines or Skagway, Alaska.

In April, Wellgreen published results from a 25-hole winter program that targeted down-dip extensions and higher grade mineralization at the Far West, West, Central, East and Far East zones. In addition to updating the resource, a portion of the core is being used for further metallurgical testing.

Results from this program, as well as from previous drill programs conducted late in 2014 and summer 2015, will be incorporated into an updated geological deposit model that is intended to form the basis of a pre-feasibility study.

In July, the company began a 2,500-meter drill program targeting areas with the potential to expand the overall resource at Wellgreen; upgrade inferred resources; expand a starter pit considered in the PEA; and test continuity of high-grade zones previously encountered.

The company is also completing metallurgical studies to optimize the recovery circuit; and investigate the idea of creating separate copper and nickel concentrates.

-SHANE LASLEY