Equal partners Thermal Exploration (ASE) and Western Copper Holdings, an affiliate of Teck (TSE), are moving closer to a production decision at their Williams Creek copper deposit in the Yukon. The Williams Creek deposit, situated 130 miles north of Whitehorse, contains preliminary reserves of 16.3 million tons grading 1.15% copper per ton using a cut-off grade of 0.6%.
The deposit consists of both oxide and sulphide reserves. Studies show that the oxidized reserves, which extend to a depth of 800 ft., could be mined using an open pit operation. Production, at costs of 45-60 cents per pound of copper, is scheduled to commence in the spring of 1993.
The partners estimate overall capital costs to be in the order of $35-40 million. They plan to build a solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant capable of producing 30 tons of copper per day on the site, and may consider year-round production.
Results from recent tests on crushed copper oxide ore from Williams Creek indicate that 85% of the contained copper can be extracted using sulfuric acid as a leaching agent. If there are sufficient sulphides present in the ore to generate a portion of the acid requirements, Thermal estimates that the capital cost of the acid plant ($6 million) could be eliminated.
Recently, the Yukon government agreed to provide half of the financing required to build an all-weather road into the deposit.
Later this fall, the partners plan to begin an infill drilling program at Williams Creek to better define the deposit, which has been drill- tested at intervals of 400 ft. The program will also test indications that a higher-grade gold zone is contained within the copper-rich deposit. The overall deposit averages 0.02 oz. gold per ton.
Thermal is currently trying to raise about $700,000 to complete the next phase of drilling and metallurgical testing.
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