Roca awarded mine permit for Max moly project

Vancouver British Columbia’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources has awarded a mining permit allowing a wholly owned subdidiary of Roca Mines (ROK-V) to develop and operate a mine at the Max molybdenum project, 60 km south of Revelstoke.

Permit in hand, Roca intends to fast-track development of a 500-tonne-per-day mine and mill at Max, formerly known as the Trout Lake deposit. Initial production will come from the HG zone, a higher grade portion of the larger Max deposit.

The HG zone hosts a measured resource of 260,000 tonnes grading 1.95% MoS₂, while the larger Max deposit hosts a measured and indicated resource of 42.9 million tonnes of 0.20% MoS₂.

Previous operators (Newmont Mines and Esso Minerals) spent an estimated $15 million developing the project in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but work ceased when double-digit moly prices fell to about US$5 per pound. Prices have since rebounded and averaged US$25 per pound in the latest quarter ended Sept. 30.

Roca plans to maximize the use of existing workings, including production-sized underground access to the ore zones. Capital costs for the proposed mine are estimated at a modest US$15 million.

The initial phase of mining is expected to produce about 1.5 million pounds of contained moly from a first-year production run of 72,000 tonnes. The company will later consider potential to expand the daily production rate beyond 500 tonnes.