The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - March 29, 2024
Western Copper and Gold completed 2,244 meters of drilling in seven holes at Casino in 2023. After assessing its core, the company has selected samples to begin metallurgical testing.
Western Copper and Gold Corp. March 27 reported that 15 samples from its 2023 drilling program will be assessed as the company kicks off its metallurgical testing program at Casino in Yukon, Canada.
Located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of Whitehorse, this world-class project that Western Copper and Gold has been advancing since acquiring the property in 2008 is found within the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation.
Historically, two prefeasibility studies and a feasibility study on developing a mine at Casino have been published.
Western Copper and Gold, however, has substantially expanded the deposit and published a preliminary economic assessment in 2022 outlining an economically robust mine capable of producing an average of 178 million pounds of copper, 231,000 ounces of gold, 1.36 million oz of silver, and 16.6 million lb of molybdenum per year over an initial 25-year mine life.
This PEA is based on 2.03 billion metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.14% (6.58 billion pounds) copper, 0.17 grams per metric ton (12.1 million ounces) gold, 1.4 g/t (100.5 million oz) silver, and 0.016% (731 million lb) molybdenum; plus 1.46 billion metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.1% (3.28 million lb) copper, 0.14 g/t (6.6 million oz) gold, 1.2 g/t (55.2 million oz) silver, and 0.01% (322.8 million lb) molybdenum.
In 2023, Western targeted over 2,000 meters of drilling inside the current pit boundaries, which ranged from 130 meters to 556 meters in length. Selected to provide a range of grades, host rocks, and mineralogy for its metallurgical program, the company has prepared its chosen samples to begin testing.
Fifteen composite samples representing near-surface and deeper mineralization at various grades were selected. To produce a definitive concentrate from each composite, they will be subjected to comminution and flotation tests.
Western says the results of this testing will be used to develop a more detailed geometallurgical model of Casino.
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