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. Plant throughput is expected to increase to 45 ktpd in 2020 with the installation of a third ball mill. With the plant expansion, average annual production is expected to increase to 116 million pounds of copper equivalent from 90 million pounds of copper equivalent.
Based on reserves only, and with the integration of New Ingerbelle, which is located one kilometer from the Copper Mountain mine, the operation’s current mine life is expected to be approximately 26 years. Further potential exists through the upgrading of resources to reserves and further exploration.
Project Snapshot
| Ownership | 75% Copper Mountain Mining Corporation 25% Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC) |
| Location | 20 km south of Princeton, B.C. (Canada) |
| Deposit Type (Copper Mountain Mine and New Ingerbelle) |
Copper/Gold Porphyry |
| Mine Type | Conventional Open Pit |
| Process | Conventional Crush, Grind, Flotation |
| Expected Mine life | 26 years (based on reserves only) |
| 2018 Production | 92.4 million lbs of copper equivalent |
| End Product | Copper Concentrate (with Gold and Silver) |
Integrated Production Plan Overview
The Company’s Integrated Production Plan includes expanding the plant to 45 ktpd in 2020 and integrating New Ingerbelle into the Copper Mountain Mine’s production plan. New Ingerbelle is located one kilometre away from the Copper Mountain Mine, and the Company plans to truck the ore via a 3 km access road to the existing plant.
| 2019 Integrated Production Plan | |
|---|---|
| After-tax NPV (8%)(1) | US$619M |
| Total Initial CAPEX (1) | US$48M |
| Total Copper Equivalent (CuEq) Production (1) | 2,344 Mlbs |
| Total Copper Production | 1,895 Mlbs |
| Total Gold Production | 982 koz |
| Annual CuEq Production (1,2) | 116 Mlbs |
| Annual Copper Production(2) | 93 Mlbs |
| Annual Gold Production(2) | 49 koz |
| Average Copper Recovery | 85.5% |
| Mine Life | 26 years |
| Average C1 Cash Costs, net of by-product credits (1) | US$1.87/lb |
(1) Assumes consensus pricing ranging from US$2.94/lb Cu to $3.20/lb Cu with a long-term copper price of $3.18/lb and, US$1,314/oz Au and US$17.75/oz Ag and a USD to CAD exchange rate of 1.32:1.
(2) First ten years of production, commencing in 2020.
Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resources
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, 2019.
Copper Mountain Mine Mineral Reserves
(as at January 1, 2019)
| Copper Mountain Operation Mineral Reserves | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | Copper | Gold | Silver | Copper | Gold | Silver | ||||||||||
| (‘000s) | (%) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (M lbs) | (k oz) | (k oz) | ||||||||||
| Proven | ||||||||||||||||
| CMM Pit | 81,768 | 0.32 | 0.09 | 1.55 | 571 | 233 | 4,067 | |||||||||
| New Ingerbelle Pit | 60,455 | 0.26 | 0.16 | 0.52 | 346 | 315 | 1,016 | |||||||||
| Sub-total (Pit) | 142,223 | 0.29 | 0.12 | 1.11 | 916 | 548 | 5,083 | |||||||||
| Stockpile | 56,124 | 0.16 | 0.04 | 0.45 | 196 | 72 | 814 | |||||||||
| Total Proven | 198,346 | 0.25 | 0.10 | 0.92 | 1,112 | 620 | 5,897 | |||||||||
| Probable | ||||||||||||||||
| CMM Pit | 93,301 | 0.23 | 0.07 | 0.98 | 473 | 225 | 2,938 | |||||||||
| New Ingerbelle Pit | 132,355 | 0.23 | 0.14 | 0.46 | 669 | 614 | 1,952 | |||||||||
| Sub-total (Pit) | 225,656 | 0.23 | 0.12 | 0.67 | 1,142 | 838 | 4,890 | |||||||||
| Stockpile | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Total Probable | 225,656 | 0.23 | 0.12 | 0.67 | 1,142 | 838 | 4,890 | |||||||||
| Proven & Probable | ||||||||||||||||
| CMM Pit | 175,069 | 0.27 | 0.08 | 1.24 | 1,043 | 457 | 7,005 | |||||||||
| New Ingerbelle Pit | 192,810 | 0.24 | 0.15 | 0.48 | 1,015 | 929 | 2,968 | |||||||||
| Sub-total (Pit) | 367,879 | 0.25 | 0.12 | 0.84 | 2,058 | 1,386 | 9,973 | |||||||||
| Stockpile | 56,124 | 0.16 | 0.04 | 0.45 | 196 | 72 | 814 | |||||||||
| Proven & Probable | 424,002 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 0.79 | 2,254 | 1,458 | 10,787 | |||||||||
|
Mineral Reserve Notes: |
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Copper Mountain Mine Mineral Resources
(as at January 1, 2019)
| Copper Mountain Operation Mineral Resources (based on a 0.10% Cu cut-off grade) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | Copper | Gold | Silver | Copper | Gold | Silver | |
| (‘000s) | (%) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (M lbs) | (M oz) | (M oz) | |
| Measured | |||||||
| CMM | 100,616 | 0.29 | 0.09 | 1.30 | 632 | 0.282 | 4.21 |
| New Ingerbelle | 60,465 | 0.26 | 0.16 | 0.51 | 341 | 0.313 | 0.99 |
| Total Measured | 161,081 | 0.27 | 0.12 | 1.01 | 973 | 0.595 | 5.21 |
| Indicated | |||||||
| CMM | 228,088 | 0.21 | 0.08 | 0.77 | 1,057 | 0.568 | 5.65 |
| New Ingerbelle | 159,551 | 0.23 | 0.14 | 0.45 | 809 | 0.739 | 2.33 |
| Total Indicated | 387,639 | 0.22 | 0.11 | 0.64 | 1,866 | 1.31 | 7.98 |
| Total M&I | |||||||
| CMM | 328,704 | 0.23 | 0.08 | 0.93 | 1,690 | 0.85 | 9.86 |
| New Ingerbelle | 220,016 | 0.24 | 0.15 | 0.47 | 1,149 | 1.05 | 3.33 |
| Total M&I | 548,720 | 0.24 | 0.11 | 0.75 | 2,839 | 1.90 | 9.86 |
| Inferred | |||||||
| CMM | 131,254 | 0.19 | 0.08 | 0.57 | 560 | 0.322 | 2.39 |
| New Ingerbelle | 106,000 | 0.22 | 0.13 | 0.41 | 512 | 0.453 | 1.40 |
| Total Inferred | 237,254 | 0.21 | 0.10 | 0.50 | 1,071 | 0.776 | 3.79 |
Mineral Resource Notes:
1. Mineral Resources were estimated using the January 1, 2019 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 but do not include stockpiled material.
5. Mineral Resources are reported at a 0.10% cut-off.
6. Totals may not add due to rounding.