PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into the Butcherbird manganese project, in Western Australia, has indicated an economically and technically viable project, owner Montezuma Mining said.
The company told shareholders that the scoping study supported Montezuma’s aim to complete feasibility study work at the project area and apply for regulatory consent in 2018/19, to allow for project development to take place in 2020/21.
The scoping study was focused on an openpit development, and based on a mineral resource of 180.8-million tonnes, at 10.8% manganese in the inferred and indicated categories.
Montezuma said that the scoping study confirmed that the Butcherbird project had the potential to become a low operating cost producer with modest capital requirements, and simple logistics.
“The results were encouraging and a clearer pathway to the project's development has been mapped out. Montezuma aims to complete a prefeasibility study and progress the project towards development,” said Montezuma executive director Justin Brown.
“We see great potential at the Butcherbird project for increasing the resource and rapid mine development leading to Montezuma becoming a manganese producer in the near-term.”
Montezuma will now work to complete prefeasibility and feasibility studies at the project, while undertaking discussions with end-users to establish offtake or funding agreements.
The company said that it would also examine alternative sources of finance to fund further studies or the development of the project, but told shareholders that it had sufficient capital to fund the completion of prefeasibility and definitive feasibility studies, as currently budgeted.