Vancouver British Columbia’s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources has awarded a mining permit allowing a wholly owned subdidiary of Roca Mines (ROK-V) to develop and operate a mine at the Max molybdenum project, 60 km south of Revelstoke.
Permit in hand, Roca intends to fast-track development of a 500-tonne-per-day mine and mill at Max, formerly known as the Trout Lake deposit. Initial production will come from the HG zone, a higher grade portion of the larger Max deposit.
The HG zone hosts a measured resource of 260,000 tonnes grading 1.95% MoS2, while the larger Max deposit hosts a measured and indicated resource of 42.9 million tonnes of 0.20% MoS2.
Previous operators (Newmont Mines and Esso Minerals) spent an estimated $15 million developing the project in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but work ceased when double-digit moly prices fell to about US$5 per pound. Prices have since rebounded and averaged US$25 per pound in the latest quarter ended Sept. 30.
Roca plans to maximize the use of existing workings, including production-sized underground access to the ore zones. Capital costs for the proposed mine are estimated at a modest US$15 million.
The initial phase of mining is expected to produce about 1.5 million pounds of contained moly from a first-year production run of 72,000 tonnes. The company will later consider potential to expand the daily production rate beyond 500 tonnes.
Be the first to comment on "Roca awarded mine permit for Max moly project"