The Copper Mountain mine is located about 20 km south of Princeton, British Columbia and 300 km east of the port of Vancouver. The Copper Mountain mineral claims cover approximately 18,000 acres and consist primarily of 135 crown grants, 176 mineral claims and 14 mining leases. The property is accessible by a combination of highways and paved roads and is close to the port of Vancouver that provides service for shipment of copper concentrates.

The Copper Mountain mine is a conventional open pit, truck and shovel operation. The mine has a 40 ktpd plant that utilizes a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation circuit to produce copper concentrates with gold and silver credits. A mill expansion to increase throughput to 45 ktpd with the installation of a third ball mill is currently underway and is expected to also improve recoveries resulting in increased production by 15 to 18%. A second mill expansion to 65ktpd is also planned, which is expected to further increase average annual production to 131 million pounds of copper equivalent over the life of mine and reduce C1 cash costs to US$1.21 per pound of copper. The 65 ktpd mill expansion, including the integration of New Ingerbelle, brings Copper Mountain Mine’s after-tax NPV at an 8% discount to US$1.0 billion. (Per the November 2020 Technical Report).

Further potential exists through the upgrading of resources to reserves and further exploration to continue to extend the mine life and add value.

Project Snapshot

Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource

A summary of the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource for the Copper Mountain Operation is provided below. The Mineral Reserve is included in the Mineral Resource and the effective date of the Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource is January 1, 2020.

1. Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) and CIM (2014) Definition Standards were followed for Mineral Reserves.
2. Mineral Reserves were generated using the September 1, 2020 mining surface.
3. Mineral Reserves are reported at a 0.10% Cu cut-off grade.
4. Mineral Reserves are reported using long-term copper, gold, and silver prices of $2.75/lb, $1,500/oz, and $18.50/oz, respectively.
5. An average CMM copper process recovery at block model domain recovery, gold process recovery of 65%, and silver process recovery of 70% is based on geo-metallurgical domains and actual plant values.
6. An average Ingerbelle copper process recovery of 88.5%, gold process recovery of 71%, and silver process recovery of 65% is based on geo-metallurgical domains, historical recoveries, and recent testwork.
7. Average bulk density is 2.78 t/m3.
8. Stockpile tonnes and grade based on production grade control process.
9. Totals may not add due to rounding.

Qualified Person

Mr. Stuart Collins, P.E., serves as the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is the Qualified Person for information regarding the Copper Mountain mine’s Mineral Reserve. Mr. Collins is mine technical services director at Copper Mountain and has reviewed and approved the Mineral Reserve estimate for the Copper Mountain Mine.

1. Mineral Resources were estimated using the September 1, 2020 mining surface for Copper Mountain Mine.
2. Mineral Resources are constrained by a $3.50/lb Cu pit shell.
3. Cut-off grade is based on copper grade only.
4. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves and 54Mt at 01.5% Cu of stockpiled material has been added to the  Measured & Indicated total. 
5. Cut-off grades applied at 0.10% Cu.
6. Totals may not add due to rounding.

Mineral Resource QP:

The Mineral Resource estimate for the Copper Mountain mine was prepared by Mr. Peter Holbek, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc. P. Geo, who is the Vice President, Exploration of Copper Mountain Mining Corporation. Mr. Holbek serves as the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Holbek has reviewed and approved the Mineral Resource estimate for the Copper Mountain Mine.

Technical Report

Copper Mountain Mine 65KTPD NI 43-101 Technical Report (2020)

Copper Mountain Mine NI 43-101 Technical Report (2019)

Copper Mountain Mine NI 43-101 Technical Report (2018)