Likely, B.C.– Pierre Lebel, chairman of
Imperial owns 100% of the 20,000-tonne-per-day capacity mine located 56 km northeast of Williams Lake, B.C., near the interior community of Likely. The company first commissioned the mine in 1997, only to suspend operations in 2001 because of weak metal prices.
After a few tough years, the company and the mine project were revived by rising metal prices, a major restructuring program, and an attention-grabbing discovery that triggered a flurry of staking and exploration activity in the surrounding region.
Discovered in 2003, the high-grade Northeast zone is already contributing to this year’s production target of 26 million lbs. copper and 33,000 oz. gold in concentrates.
Production is expected to rise next year to more than 60 million lbs. copper and 50,000 oz. gold.
Lebel gave much of the credit for the mine reopening to the current B.C. government, for its “much-improved mining policies and permitting process,” and to “super-flow-through shares,” which allowed the company to discover and define the Northeast zone during an industry downturn.
Local and provincial politicians were on hand for the reopening celebration. All agreed that “safe, environmentally sensitive mining” provides economic benefits and diversification to local communities and the province.
Cabinet Minister Pat Bell, a former minister of mines, used the occasion to urge resource companies “to come back to B.C. and look for opportunities.” He also reaffirmed the government’s support for mining, which has created hundreds of new jobs with an average (province-wide) salary of $94,500.
“We’re absolutely committed to making sure this industry has a long-term future in the province,” Bell said.
Lebel assured guests that Mount Polley would have a long-term future too, thanks to the booming metal-hungry economies of China and India, and invited everyone to attend the mine’s 10-year operating anniversary in mid-September 2015.
President Brian Kynoch praised patient shareholders, supportive local communities, and dedicated employees, including the discovery team that found the Northeast zone. “You can’t mine what hasn’t been found,” he reminded guests.
Imperial discovered the zone while prospecting along a new logging road in an under-explored area. Unlike other known deposits, the Northeast zone has no magnetic signature, a finding that led to a property-wide reassessment using induced-polarization geophysical surveys and other sophisticated exploration techniques.
In 2004, Patrick McAndless, vice-president of exploration, was awarded the prestigious Spud Huestis Award by the B.C. and Yukon Chamber of Mines for his role in the discovery.
Kynoch also praised suppliers that supported the company during its “darkest days,” particularly after operations were suspended in 2001.
Stops and starts — even the occasional dark day — are nothing new for the Mount Polley project. The first discoveries were made in 1964 and various companies explored the project over the next 30 years. Production plans were made and then scrapped, as metal prices came under downward pressure.
Imperial revived the project in the early 1990s, and built a mine and mill in 1997 at a cost of $115 million. Four years later, metal prices had dropped to the point where it was no longer viable to strip and develop new pits after initial reserves were exhausted. By the time operations ceased, the Cariboo and Bell pits had produced 133 million lbs. copper and 370,000 oz. gold from 27.7 million tonnes of ore.
Imperial continued exploring the property during the industry-wide downturn. Its perseverance was rewarded when the discovery hole at the Northeast zone returned an impressive 57-metre intersection grading 2.54% copper, 1.15 grams gold per tonne, and 17.4 parts-per-million (ppm) silver — well above the grades of past-producing pits.
More positive drill results and rising metal prices pushed Imperial’s share price from a 2003 low of 42 to a high of $8.40 in the fall of 2004. Preparations to reopen the mine then began in earnest.
The conventional mill was upgraded with more flotation cells and a new concentrate thickener before milling restarted in March. Initial feed came from low-grade stockpiles, but by mid-summer, the newly developed Wight pit within the Northeast zone had become a major source of feed.
By this point, drilling programs had outlined probable reserves of 44 million tonnes of 0.45% copper, 0.3 gram gold and 1.33 grams silver within the Wight, Bell, and Springer pits. Measured and indicated resources (excluding pit reserves) are 68.5 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper and 0.25 gram gold, while inferred resources are 28.3 million tonnes grading 0.29% copper and 0.29 gram gold.
Copper grades are significantly higher in the Northeast zone, which hosts open-pit minable reserves of 9.1 million tonnes grading 0.88% copper, 0.29 gram gold, and 6.4 grams silver. Measured and indicated resources (additional to reserves) are 15.7 million tonnes grading 0.61% copper, 0.19 gram gold, and 4.4 grams silver.
Another important feature, according to Imperial’s geological team, is that the Northeast zone is non-acid-generating, and “as ecologically benign as you can get.”
Another milestone was achieved in July when the first shipment of concentrates began its journey to Asian smelters. The 11,500-tonne shipment graded about 24.5% copper, 27.9 grams gold and 76.2 grams silver, and contained about 5.56 million lbs. copper, 9,340 oz. gold, and 23,700 oz. silver.
Minable reserves are sufficient for six years of production, however, the company views the potential to expand reserves as “excellent.”
The known deposits at Mount Polley are hosted in an alkalic intrusive complex within the geologically prospective Quesnel Trough. A number of promising targets have been identified on the mine property, including the Southeast zone about 1 km southeast of the mill. This near-surface deposit has a high gold-to-copper ratio, and is expected to provide feed to blend with copper-rich ores from the Wight pit. The company has filed for a permit to mine the deposit.
Drilling below the Wight pit also returned impressive results, notably 25.1 metres of 4.43% copper, 1.28 grams gold and 26.96 ppm silver, and 15 metres of 5.86% copper, 3.13 grams gold and 39.06 ppm silver. These high-grade results prompted Imperial to examine for the first time the potential for underground mining at Mount Polley.
Meanwhile, a property-wide exploration effort is also under way, with various early-stage targets being assessed and prioritized for future drill programs.
On the metallurgical front, Imperial is examining the potential for copper leaching to improve recoveries of oxidized resources at Mount Polley, such as occur at the top of the Springer pit.
Kynoch says a test-heap of at least 100,000 tonnes, and possibly up to 1 million tonnes, is planned for next year. A newer aspect of the proposed copper-leaching test program will involve using sulphur to produce sulphuric acid, instead of purchasing acid.
Mount Polley employs more than 230 people, including unionized workers, with most employees drawn from nearby communities.
Imperial also owns 50% of the Huckleberry copper-molybdenum mine near Houston, B.C., and the past-producing Sterling gold mine in Nevada.
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