The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
PEA forecasts 277M lb copper from Yukon mine over 8 years North of 60 Mining News – May 14, 2021
A new PEA extends the life of Pembridge Resources' Minto copper mine in the Yukon out to 2028.
A truckload of copper concentrates from the Minto Mine is being barged across the Yukon River on its way to the Skagway Ore Terminal in Southeast Alaska. During the winter months, an ice bridge is used to cross this iconic northern river.
Pembridge Resources plc May 12 reported that the life of its Minto copper mine in the Yukon has been extended out to 2028, five years beyond the 2023 life of mine previously reported by the London Stock Exchange-listed company.
Based on a preliminary economic assessment prepared for Pembridge, Minto is expected to produce 277 million pounds of copper, 129,000 ounces of gold, and 930,000 oz of silver over the eight years considered in the scoping level study.
The mine is forecast to average 38 million lb of copper, 17,600 oz of gold, and 129,000 oz of silver annually over the next five years.
The mine outlined in the PEA is based on 11.09 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.46% (356 million lb) copper, 0.53 grams per metric ton (189,000 oz) gold, and 4.75 g/t (1.86 million oz) silver; plus 13.03 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.29% (370 million lb) copper, 0.49 g/t (207,000 oz) gold, and 4.55 g/t (2.09 million oz) silver.
Upgrading the inferred resource to higher confidence categories is expected to add another seven years to the life of the Minto Mine.
The average all-in sustaining cost per lb of copper over the eight-year mine life considered in the PEA is US$2.65 after by-product credits for the gold and silver, but not including closure costs.
This, however, is based on copper prices of US$3.40/lb in 2021, US$3.25/lb in 2022, and US$3.10/lb from 2023 onward.
Considering that the current copper price sits at around US$4.80/lb and Goldman Sachs forecasts that renewable energy and electric vehicle demand will drive the price up to US$6.80/lb by 2025, these are conservative price assumptions.
Using a flat copper price of US$4.50/lb, gold price of US$1,550/oz, and silver price of US$18.50/oz over the life of mine, and a US to Canadian dollar exchange rate of 1.25 to 1, the net present value (8% discount) of the Minto Mine outlined in the PEA is US$265 million.
"The imbedded value of Minto is now clearly identified, and the Minto team is very excited to realize and grow this value for all the Minto stakeholders," said Pembridge Resources Chairman and CEO Gati Al-Jebouri.
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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