The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
New calculation will inform feasibility study slated for June North of 60 Mining News – February 12, 2021
Stacks of core from previous drilling at Kutcho, an advanced staged exploration project in northern British Columbia.
Kutcho Copper Corp. Feb. 11 announced an updated and expanded resource estimate for its Kutcho high-grade copper-zinc project in Northern British Columbia.
According to the new calculation, the three deposits that make up the Kutcho project – Main, Esso and Sumac – host 18.58 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.78% copper, 2.58% zinc, 0.47 grams per metric ton gold, and 32.8 g/t silver; plus 13.24 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.11% copper, 1.6% zinc, 0.25 g/t gold, and 20.6 g/t silver.
"The updated estimate of mineral resources includes an 8% increase in measured and indicated tonnes and a 24% increase in inferred tonnes compared to the 2019 resource estimate," said Kutcho Copper President and CEO Vince Sorace. "This updated mineral resource is currently being used as the foundation for the feasibility study, which remains on track to be completed this June."
A 2017 prefeasibility study completed for the Kutcho project considers the development of a 2,500-metric-ton-per-day operation that would produce 378 million lb of copper and 473 million lb of zinc, plus by-product precious metals over a 12-year mine life.
The feasibility study due out around mid-year will incorporate the expanded and upgraded resources, as well as improved metal recoveries from metallurgical work completed over the past two years.
"In addition, there remains significant exploration potential between, below and along strike from the existing mineral resources, providing further upside opportunities to grow the size of the project," said Sorace.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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