Curator estimates 15-22 years for Boleo

Preliminary plans show that the Boleo copper-cobalt project in Baja California, Mexico, could generate annual profits of US$170 million at a production rate of 15,000 tonnes per day.

International Curator Resources (IC-T) reports that the capital cost of such an operation would be US$480 million. Head grades, over the first three years, are projected at 1.2% copper and 0.12% cobalt.

The plan envisages an initial open pit in the Saturno area, which holds a diluted minable reserve of 82 million tonnes grading 1.31% copper and 0.09% cobalt.

An alternative plan would see the mine produce 10,000 tonnes per day at a cost of US$360 million. At this scale, annual profits are projected to be US$115 million, with head grades over the first three years, of 1.18% copper and 0.13% cobalt.

Recoveries under both plans are projected to be 85% for copper and 75% for cobalt.

Curator estimates that the first plan would result in a mine life of 22 years; the second, of 15 years. The potential for expansion is said to be significant.

The 60-sq.-km project contains a preliminary resource of 395 million tonnes grading 0.75% copper and 0.68% cobalt, equivalent to 7.6 billion contained pounds of copper and 652 million contains pounds of cobalt. The estimate is based on a copper-equivalent cutoff grade of 1%.