Vancouver — An internal resource estimate suggests less tonnage but higher grades for the Kutcho Creek polymetallic project in north-central British Columbia.
Kutcho, which is held by
Meanwhile, the indicated resource at the deeper Esso West deposit has been updated to 2.1 million tonnes grading 3.26% copper, 5.86% zinc, 75.7 grams silver and 0.71 gram gold at a 1.5% copper-equivalent cutoff.
The estimates are based on 158 holes drilled in the Kutcho deposit and 44 holes in and around Esso West.
Together the two sulphide deposits contain 672 million lbs. copper and 959 million lbs. zinc at an average copper-equivalent grade of 3.65%.
In calculating the estimates, Western Keltic used metal prices of US$1 per lb. copper, US50 per lb. zinc, US$6 per oz. silver, and US$400 per oz. gold. Projected metallurgical recoveries are 88% for copper, 85% for zinc, 60% for silver, and 50% for gold.
The new Kutcho resource estimate resulted in a slight increase in grade and decrease in tonnage from the previous resource estimate. The company believes the tonnage was lost as a result of ore deposit modelling, whereas increases in copper, silver and gold grades are a reflection of larger-diameter core samples and improved core recovery.
The Kutcho Creek deposits were initially discovered in the late 1970s by Esso Minerals and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining.
Subsequent exploration in the 1980s, including a prefeasibility study, outlined an indicated resource of 14.9 million tonnes grading 1.85% copper, 2.62% zinc, 31.6 grams silver and 0.37 gram gold in the main Kutcho deposit.
The deeper Esso West deposit had a historical resource of 1.5 million tonnes grading 3.37% copper, 5.71% zinc, 63.4 grams silver and 0.54 gram gold.
The prefeasibility study indicated an internal rate of return of 11.1%, which was below the requirement for development at the time.
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