East West Caribou Mining, a unit of Breakwater Resources (TSE), has received approval from New Brunswick’s ministries of environment and natural resources to proceed with development of the Caribou and Restigouche zinc-lead-silver mines and the expansion of the Caribou mill.
Reserves at the Caribou mine, near Bathurst, are 13 million tonnes grading 8.18% zinc, 3.52% lead and 0.38% copper, plus 102 grams silver and 1.4 grams gold per tonne.
Restigouche, an open-pit mine, contains 1.6 million tonnes of minable reserves grading 6.81% zinc and 5.38% lead, in addition to 122 grams silver and 1.1 grams gold.
The mines, which will employ 280 people when in full production, are expected to produce 130,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate, 70,000 tonnes of lead concentrate and 2 million oz. silver per year.
A positive feasibility study for the mines was received in September 1995, and, with regulatory approvals in place, Breakwater is proceeding with financing.
Breakwater operated the Caribou mine in 1990, but low metal recoveries forced it to close the same year. The company expects to overcome past metallurgical obstacles as a result of improvements to the reagent scheme and expansion of the grinding and flotation circuits using high-density conditioning and finer grinding. Revenue is projected at $69.36 per tonne, an increase of 180% over 1990 figures.
Be the first to comment on "Caribou mine plan gets nod"