The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Mining Explorers 2022
NorZinc has the approvals to begin building a winter road to the Prairie Creek zinc-lead-silver mine in Northwest Territories.
An excavator being ferried across the Liard River in preparation for construction of a winter road to Prairie Creek.
In preparation for a new era of mining at Prairie Creek, NorZinc Ltd. carried out a roughly 5,300-meter drill program in 2022 focused on gathering geological and other data needed for an updated feasibility study for this underground zinc mine project in Northwest Territories.
According to a 2021 calculation, Prairie Creek hosts 9.8 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 9.7% zinc, 8.8% lead, and 139 grams per metric ton silver; and 6.4 million metric tons of total inferred resources averaging 12.9% zinc, 6.7% lead, and 150 g/t silver.
Based on this resource, NorZinc published a preliminary economic assessment for an underground mine that will feed ore to a 2,400-metric-ton-per-day mill at Prairie Creek that would produce an average of 261 million pounds of zinc-equivalent annually over 20.3 years of mining.
In September, the company was issued all permits needed to develop the mine outlined in the PEA.
The 2022 surface drill program focused on collecting metallurgical and other data for a feasibility study for the 2,400-metric-ton-per-day operation outlined in the PEA, as well as targeting areas with the potential to upgrade and expand the resource.
At the same time, NorZinc began the construction of a winter road that will allow for overland access to the zinc mine project.
The company reported that it received all territorial and federal approvals needed to construct the winter road to Prairie Creek, the first phase of a planned 170-kilometer (105 miles) all-season road that will allow concentrates from the mine to be delivered to market.
The Prairie Creek Mine is surrounded by Canada's Nahanni National Park Reserve, which encompassed the property when the reserve was expanded in 2009. At the time of the park expansion, however, the federal government provided NorZinc (then Canadian Zinc Corp.) with assurance that it would be granted access to Prairie Creek and the ability to mine there, once permits were granted.
In November, Parks Canada granted the final approval necessary for the road.
NorZinc has also entered into benefits and environmental agreements with the First Nations groups near the mine and along the proposed access road.
"The company remains committed to the responsible development and mining at Prairie Creek to deliver the significant economic and social benefits to the local communities who are our partners in this process," said NorZinc President and CEO Rohan Hazelton.
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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