Hello Paul
This exerpt from WSP's Scoping Study might help give you an idea of probable DRY NWT dike deposit mine costs. A wet dike (under water) presumably would move that $87/tonne recovery cost, which is already high, well into the stratosphere.
Dike material within the limits of the NW Peninsula that could be amenable to open pit mining was estimated to be about 720,000 tonnes, assuming an average dike thickness of 2.5 metres and typical open pit design parameters. An extension of the dike down dip from the NW Peninsula was selected as the basis for preliminary underground mining plans. The north-south strike extent of the area was similar to that of the subcrop on the Peninsula i.e. about 1,000 metres, and a down dip dimension of about 800 metres was selected to provide about 2,800,000 tonnes of dike material potentially available for underground mining.
The study assumed extraction using typical open pit methods on the Peninsula, and an inclined room and pillar underground method beneath Snap Lake. Included in the study were preliminary estimates of capital and operating costs encompassing mining, processing, and site and infrastructure requirements to produce diamonds at Snap Lake. The study concluded that over a 10-year mine life, at an extraction rate of 1,000 tonnes of kimberlite per day, and an assumed kimberlite value of $400 per tonne, the project would generate a DCFROR in the mid-50% range, with a NPV at a 10% discount rate of about $235,000,000, capital costs of about $104,000,000 and average operating costs over the mine life of about $87 per tonne of kimberlite processed.
Regards |
