MGT expects permits this year for Montana silver/copper project
miningweekly.com
By: Liezel Hill
18th January 2011
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Amex- and TSX-listed Mines Management (MGT) hopes to have permitting resolved for its flagship Montanore silver/copper project within the next 12 months, said vice-president for corporate development Doug Dobbs.
The company announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment on the mine in December, outlining plans for a 12 500 t/d operation, producing an average of 6,4-million ounces of silver and 51,1-million pounds of copper a year.
The initial capital cost to build the mine was estimated at $552,3-million and the study indicated the project would be robust at current prices.
The Montanore deposit has been studied off and on, under a series of owners, since its discovery in 1983 and Canada's Noranda Minerals actually permitted a proposed mine in the early 1990s, before putting the project on ice because of low metals prices.
MGT bought the asset from Noranda and started working on updating and reactivating the existing permits under the National Environmental Policy Act process in 2005.
Once the permits are received, the company will move forward with underground drilling and evaluation, ahead of completing a full bankable feasibility study, likely about 24 months later.
The Montanore deposit is located in north-west Montana, about 40 miles from the historic Silver Valley mining district.
The permitting process, while by no means simple, was certainly helped by the fact that the project is planned as an underground mine, which means a smaller environmental footprint, and will use conventional grinding and flotation processing, Dobbs commented.
“And the key thing is that it won't use any cyanide, which has been somewhat demonised in the state of Montana.”
There is also strong support for the project from the local community and politicians, he said.
Dobbs also commented that the silver/copper combination means the operation is well positioned to remain profitable whether the global economic outlook improves or darkens.
Silver, like gold, is seen as a safe-haven investment against riskier assets during times of uncertainty, while both silver and copper are used in industrial applications, which means demand increases with economic growth. |
