The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
2023 field programs to collect necessary data for assessment North of 60 Mining News – June 23, 2023
Mactung hosts 41.5 million metric tons of indicated underground and open pit resource averaging 0.73% (665 million pounds) tungsten trioxide and 12.3 million metric tons of inferred underground and open pit resource averaging 0.59% (158.7 million lb) tungsten trioxide.
Fireweed Metals Corp. June 20 announced its upcoming roadmap for 2023 at its Mactung tungsten project in Northwest Territories, which includes assessments, validations, and studies to bolster the data toward its planned preliminary economic assessment for the world's largest, high-grade tungsten deposit.
Following the recent mineral resource estimate for Mactung, Fireweed has accelerated exploration of this world-class deposit in what appears to be aimed at developing a mine as quickly as possible.
"Fireweed's recent resource statement on Mactung has reaffirmed the project's status as one of the world's preeminent tungsten development stories," said Fireweed Metals CEO Brandon Macdonald. "Building on that resource our team now looks to advance the project to construction readiness through modern metallurgical studies, value engineering, and by working with Indigenous groups through the regulatory processes."
The future preliminary economic assessment will establish initial project economics using current metals pricing and cost data, modern estimation, metallurgical, and engineering methodologies, and will consider other possibilities for project optimization.
This will also build on work commissioned by North American Tungsten Corp. in their 2009 feasibility study.
The new PEA is planned to kick off sometime this quarter and conclude before the end of the year.
Since acquiring Mactung from the Northwest Territories government last year, Fireweed has conducted a comprehensive resampling and re-assaying program on historic drill core, which provided a larger geochemical dataset to assist with understanding the tungsten project.
With that data in hand, the company began a metallurgical test program to confirm results from earlier work by the previous owner, aimed at optimizing the flowsheet and evaluating the potential recoverability and payability of the gold and copper produced as byproduct.
This program also includes preliminary tailings test work, with results expected sometime at the end of this year.
Aside from metallurgical testing, Fireweed plans to complete fieldwork to strengthen its data on possible environmental impact.
Already issued a positive screening report by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board, in which it recommended the project to proceed without review – subject to terms and conditions – the federal and Yukon governments subsequently varied certain terms and conditions – per documentation in respective decision documents – which provided direction to advance license applications.
Fireweed intends to complete field programs this summer at Mactung to strengthen the environmental database and confirm the distribution of discontinuous permafrost to validate the geochemical analysis of ore and waste and to identify and qualify borrow material for construction.
The results of these programs will inform collaborative working discussions with Indigenous groups to allow Fireweed to develop robust applications and management plans to mitigate any potential effects arising from future potential project development.
"This coming year will establish Mactung as not just a great resource but also a credible near-term supplier for the critical mineral tungsten," said Macdonald.
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