Low metal prices continue to hold back copper-oxide specialist
Summo’s only producing interest, the Mt. Cuthbert copper mine in northwestern Queensland, Australia, produced 1,322 tonnes of copper in the quarter ended Sept. 30. (Summo owns an equity interest in Matrix Metals, the operator of Mt. Cuthbert.)
Matrix posted an operating cash flow of A$170,000 on revenue of A$4.4 million in the quarter. Under the mine plan at Mt. Cuthbert, no new ore is being stacked on the pads, so Matrix will require cash for future expenses. Summo, provided it can find financing itself, plans to stake Matrix in exchange for more shares in the Australian company.
At the Mt. Watson prospect, 25 km from Mt. Cuthbert, Matrix has upgraded an earlier inferred resource of 837,000 tonnes grading 1.3% copper to an indicated resource. Exploration drilling along strike has found mineralization 350 metres east and 700 metres west of the resource, and the structure hosting the mineralization has been traced 1.2 km around the nose of a syncline.
Matrix has applied for two more exploration permits covering the extension of the structure, including one over the Mt. Earl area, where previous soil surveys outlined a 1,400-by-700-metre area of high copper values. Plans call for more mapping and reverse-circulation and diamond drilling.
Summo’s prefeasibility work continues at the Terrazas copper-zinc project in Chihuahua state, Mexico, where metallurgical tests show recoveries of greater than 85% of both zinc and copper from oxide mineralization. Consulting firm Jacobs Engineering is promising a complete prefeasibility study by the end of the year.
Summo received further financing from its two major shareholders, Resource Capital Funds I and II, during 2001, including a US$900,000 infusion from Resource Capital Fund II in the third quarter.
Metallurgy augurs well for Cumberland’s vault
Vancouver — Metallurgical tests on the Vault gold deposit in Nunavut show a 92% recovery rate for owner
Vault is 5 km northeast of four known deposits on the Meadowbank project and hosts an inferred resource of 7.5 million tonnes grading 3.9 grams gold per tonne.
Prefeasibility studies, completed 18 months ago on the original four gold deposits, concluded that initial gravity separation followed by flotation-concentration and on-site leaching contributed to a gold recovery rate of 92.4%. Metallurgical composites from the Vault deposit have yielded average flotation gold recoveries of 87.1%. When gravity-flotation processing is used, the rate jumps to 92.1%.
“The Vault deposit has the location, open-pit potential and possibly untapped high-grade aspect beneficial for the advancement of this project,” says Kerry Curtis, Cumberland’s senior vice-president.
The addition of the Vault deposit has increased the project’s total resources by 50% since the completion of prefeasibility studies. All five deposits combined host 7.8 million tonnes grading 5.79 grams gold in the measured and indicated class and 10.9 million tonnes grading 4.44 grams gold in the inferred category. Scoping-level economic studies to assess the impact of the additional inferred resource at the Vault deposit are nearing completion.
According to a 1999 prefeasibility study by MRDI Canada, the Third Portage zone contains a 7.4-million-tonne resource averaging 5.88 grams gold. At the Goose Island deposit, about 1 km to the south, MRDI has calculated a resource of 1.2 million tonnes grading 11.9 grams gold. Between Third Portage and Goose Island, at the Bay zone, which was first defined in early 1999, Cumberland has a resource of 684,000 tonnes grading 4.8 grams.
The Meadowbank project is 70 km north of Baker Lake.
Silver Standard eyes Chilean project
Vancouver —
Under the terms of the deal, the Vancouver-based company has paid $20,000 for a due diligence period of four months. The junior can then elect to earn a 100% interest in the project by spending US$1.5 million over two years. The original claim-owners retain a 2% net smelter return royalty, whereas the vendors receive a 2% NSR, which Silver Standard can by back for US$1.5 million.
Lying 130 km southeast of Iquique, the property hosts four north-south-striking veins. The primary target is the Lolon vein, which has been traced for more than 2 km along strike and developed over a 700-metre section. Mineralization is hosted in quartz veins that average up to 13 metres in width.
Based on 22 drill holes and underground sampling, Silver Standard has outlined a geological resource of 2.3 million tonnes grading 309.5 grams silver and 0.9 gram gold per tonne.
Underground sampling is under way, with drilling planned for 2002.
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