According to project operator Imperial Metals Corp. (TSE), audiences were receptive to the proposed open pit copper-gold mine and its potential employment opportunities.
Although still at the pre-feasibility stage, Imperial projects that Mount Polley will have at least a 10-year mine life at a mining rate of 15,000 tons per day.
Drill-indicated reserves are reported as 53 million tons grading 0.44% copper and 0.017 oz gold per ton, and the over-all stripping ratio is expected to be 1.9:1 waste to ore.
Capital costs are estimated at $135 million and operating costs at $7 per ton. Imperial said recent metallurgical testing indicated recoveries of 73.8% for copper and 85.9% for gold at an optimum economic grind of 75% minus 200 mesh from the average estimated mill feed.
Imperial recently completed 34 holes totalling 19,000 ft along the edges of the West and Central open pit zones as part of a 30,000-ft program to better define the outer limits of the property’s three open pit zones.
By the end of August the company hopes to have a geotechnical study by Knight and Piesold in hand, and to have completed drill testing of the mill site, waste dump and tailings disposal sites.
Imperial said results so far at Mount Polley have been “most encouraging” and it hopes to present a feasibility study and bulk metallurgical testing program to the joint venture for approval.
Mount Polley is held 33.64% by Imperial Metals and 27.95% by other Imperial Metals group entities. Corona Corp. (TSE) has a 38.41% interest.
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