Having received a prefeasibility study on the Red Chris copper-gold project in northwestern British Columbia, Teck (TSE) has 90 days to decide whether or not to become operator and finance a final study.
The current operator is American Bullion Minerals (TSE), which holds an 80% interest in the project. Teck holds the remainder.
Upon completing a bankable feasibility study, Teck may elect to increase its interest to 55% by arranging all production financing. American Bullion would retain a 45% carried interest.
Although details of the prefeasibility have not been released, it is known to have envisaged a 90,000-tonne-per-day operation — nearly double the previously anticipated 50,000 tonnes per day.
American Bullion expects startup to be small-scale, and the company has calculated tonnage and grade based on a range of net smelter return (NSR) cutoffs.
Measured and indicated reserves, based on a $10 NSR cutoff, are estimated at 190.9 million tonnes grading 0.52% copper and 0.47 gram gold per tonne for a contained 2.2 billion lb. copper and 2.9 million oz. gold.
This compares to 496 million tonnes grading 0.37% copper and 0.33 gram gold for a contained 4 billion lb. copper and 5.3 million oz. silver, using a NSR cutoff of $6.
The NSR cutoffs are based on metal prices of US$1 per lb. copper and US$400 per oz. gold.
The joint venture has spent $10.5 million on exploration over the past two years, defining the main Red Chris and the adjacent Yellow Chris deposits. To date, the partners have completed 244 diamond drill holes, comprising 75,000 metres.
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