FNX, Dynatec release McCreedy West reserve (July 24, 2003)

Newly minted nickel producers FNX Mining (FNX-T) and Dynatec (DY-T) have released a reserve figure for four mineralized zones at the McCreedy West property, on the northwestern fringe of the Sudbury structure.

Three of the four zones — the Upper Main, Inter Main and East Main — together make up a probable resource of 1.1 million tonnes grading 1.91% nickel and 0.23% copper. The fourth, the Footwall 700 Zone, has a probable resource of 108,000 tonnes running 0.75% nickel, 6.83% copper, and 5.8 grams combined platinum, palladium and gold per tonne.

The reserve assumes mining recovery of 95% of ore and dilution of 0.9 metres of wall rock, and depending on the planned mining method, the economic cutoff grade is 1% to 1.4% nickel-equivalent in the Main zones and 1.6% nickel-equivalent in the Footwall 700. The calculation assumes prices of US$1,980 per tonne for copper, US$7,700 for nickel, US$525 per oz. for platinum, US$350 per oz. for palladium, and US$350 per oz. for gold.

The reserve estimate is part of a larger resource at the McCreedy West mine, which the partners put back into production in May. The three Main zones have an indicated resource of 1.1 million tonnes at a grade of 2.23% nickel and 0.26% copper, plus an inferred resource of 287,000 tonnes grading 1.7% nickel and 0.44% copper.

The resources in the Main zones are based on a 1% nickel-equivalent cutoff grade — using the same prices as in the reserve calculation — and a minimum true width of 2.4 metres.

The Footwall 700 and Footwall 950 zones together make up an indicated resource of 602,000 tonnes with 2.6% copper, 0.37% nickel, 2.4 grams platinum, 2.4 grams palladium, and 0.7 gram gold. There are about 7,500 tonnes in inferred resources in the Footwall 700 zone, grading 7.44% copper, 0.85% nickel, 2.7 grams platinum, 4.1 grams palladium, and 2.1 grams gold.

The Footwall 700 zone has been defined with a cutoff grade of 1.6% nickel-equivalent and a minimum true width of 1.8 to 2.1 metres, depending on the dip. In the Footwall 950 zone, the estimate uses a cutoff grade of 0.75% nickel-equivalent over 2.4 metres true width.

Two other zones, PM and Boundary, do not figure in the new estimates. A 9,000-metre program of resource drilling, on 15- to 25-metre centres, is underway on the PM zone.