The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - June 27, 2024
Core from drilling high-grade zinc mineralization at the Pine Point project in Northwest Territories.
Osisko Metals Inc. June 25 reported that drilling over the past two years has upgraded a significant portion of the mineral resources at Pine Point to the higher confidence indicated category in preparation for elevating this zinc mine project in Northwest Territories to the feasibility stage.
According to a new calculation, Pine Point hosts 49.5 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 4.22% (4.6 billion pounds) zinc and 1.49% (1.6 billion lb) lead; plus 8.3 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.18% (700 million lb) zinc and 1.69% (300 million lb) lead.
This marks a 214% increase in indicated resource over to the previous resource calculation completed in 2022. Most of the increase is the result of elevating inferred resource to the higher confidence indicated category.
"We are very happy to have met a critical milestone with this MRE (mineral resource estimate) that successfully converted the majority of the mineral resources to the indicated category," said Osisko Metals CEO and Chairman Robert Wares. "With our partner Appian Capital Advisory LLP, we can now rapidly advance Pine Point to the feasibility stage following finalization of trade-off studies."
Early last year, Appian agreed to invest as much as C$100 million (US$74 million) to earn up to a 60% joint venture interest in Pine Point Ltd., which is advancing the zinc project toward development and operations.
A 2022 preliminary economic assessment based on the previous resource calculation outlined plans for a mine capable of producing 329 million lb of zinc and 141 million lb of lead annually over 12 years of mining.
Home to a historical mine that operated from 1964 until 1989, Pine Point already boasts significant infrastructure, including access by paved roads, a railhead about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west in Hay River, and an on-site hydroelectric substation. Additionally, the project benefits from roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) of mine haul roads that connect most of the deposits in the 2024 resource estimate to the location of the future mill and camp.
Even as Pine Point is ready to be elevated to the feasibility level, the JV continues to seek new deposits to pull into the mine plan.
"We will also continue exploring for new deposits and should significant discoveries be made this summer; they will be rapidly incorporated into the final inventory," said Pine Point Mining CEO Jeff Hussey.
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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