Environmental decision brings Ming copper/gold mine closer to development
The Newfoundland and Labrador government has granted final environmental approval for Rambler Metals and Mining's Ming copper-gold project on the Baie-Verte peninsula.
Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted: Wednesday , 02 Jun 2010
LONDON -
mineweb.com
The decision by the Newfoundland and Labrador Government to grant final environmental approval for Rambler Metals and Mining's (AIM:RMM, TSX-V: RAB) Ming copper-gold mine on the Baie-Verte peninsula has brought this brownfields operation closer to production, which is planned for next year, with construction start planned for August this year. Major equipment has already been ordered.
Initial milling will be at the existing Nugget Pond mill which was purchased from Crew Gold for C$3.5 million and is located 40 km from the Ming mine. A flotation section will be added to the concentrator, which was originally a gold processing facility and had itself been purchased, and refurbished, by Crew to treat ore from its Nalunaq mine in Greenland. Up until January this year it had been contract milling ore, so is in excellent condition according to Rambler CEO, George Ogilvie, talking to Mineweb recently. The purchase of the mill cuts the capital costs of the project dramatically, although will raise the operating costs through having to truck the ore the 40 km to the mill. The mill capacity will allow Rambler to process 850 tonnes a day through the facility.
By today's standards, the ore grades at the old Ming mine were very high and the initial NI43-101 resource assessment, undertaken by SRK, showing a measured and indicated resource of 3.65 million tonnes at 2.21% copper, 1.37 grams per tonne gold, 7.86 grams per tonne silver and 0.39% zinc, bears this out. Much of this ore was ignored by the original miners who were working at a grade of around 4% + copper. Ogilvie points out that the new NI43-101 resource was calculated at a very conservative copper price of $1.92/lb - compared with today's $3.00/lb - and even a small increase in the assumed copper price from the original resource calculation increases the tonnage and contained metals values dramatically.
The original Ming mine ceased working when its high grade orebody was worked out up to the mine boundary and the operating company was unable to negotiate a deal with the owners of the land on the other side of the boundary (then BP/Selco) to carry on mining on its ground. Since then a local Newfoundland-based company, Altius Minerals - mainly a royalty company based in St. Johns - had been able to consolidate mineral rights in the area and traded these to Rambler for a 20.2% stake in the latter. This consolidated resource, accessible from the original Ming mine workings, makes the project an exciting one for Rambler.
The old Ming mine had been allowed to flood, but this has been pumped out and the old mine workings - and even the shaft timbers - are still in excellent condition. There is also an 18% grade decline down to the existing bottom level and Rambler's initial plans are to work a new orebody exposed at a level around 400 ft below surface and truck the ore directly out of the mine before having to invest in a new hoisting system. The plan is to bring the mine on stream at a relatively low capital cost and then look at tonnage build-up enhancements as positive net cashflow is achieved.
Rambler is in a decent cash position with C$11 million in its Treasury and as it proceeds can draw down on an additional $15 million achieved under a forward gold sales agreement with Sandstorm Resources which will become available in stages assuming the new NI 43-101 resource assessment , due this month, is favourable and as permitting is finalised.
While the initial operation is relatively small scale, the SRK evaluation when the first NI 43-101 was calculated suggested that the resource was sufficient to support a 4,000 tonne/day operation with a life of around 10 years. At higher copper and gold prices than used in the initial assessment this could be much higher and Ming could return to being an important producer in its own right which would be extremely positive for this rather economically depressed area of Newfoundland. |
