TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A 30-day comment period has started for TSX-listed Northcliff Resources’ majority-owned Sisson tungsten/molybdenum project.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) had progressed its permit application to the public comment phase, signalling a significant milestone in the environmental assessment review process for the Sisson project.
"The company is confident that the mitigation measures proposed and the rigorous environmental assessment review process will ensure that the facility can be constructed and operated in an environmentally sound manner. The company will review the CSR and provide any further comments to CEAA,” stated president and CEO Chris Zahovskis.
As part of the harmonised environmental-impact assessment (EIA) process, the province of New Brunswick had already given its approval of the EIA in December 2015.
The Sisson project was believed to have the potential to become a near-term metal producer, with the potential to produce new supplies to North American, European and Asian markets that were experiencing increasing demand.
In January 2013, Northcliff, in association with New Zealand-based Todd Minerals, completed a feasibility study for the project, which gave it a pretax net present value (NPV) of C$714-million at an 8% discount rate, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20.4% and a four-year payback on the initial capital expenditures of C$579-million, at long-term metal prices of $350/t for ammonium paratungstate (APT) and $15/lb for molybdenum.
Sisson would be developed as an efficient bulk-tonnage operation and Northcliff intended to undertake value‐added processing of tungsten concentrates by constructing and operating Canada’s first APT plant at the project site, which would add significant economic value to the project.
After deducting tax, Sisson had a C$418-million NPV, a 16.3% IRR and a four-and-a-half-year payback on the initial capital expense.
Located 100 km by road north-west of Fredericton, the Sisson property hosted a 334-million-ton proven and probable mineral reserve, containing 22.2-million metric ton units of tungsten trioxide and 154.8-million pounds of molybdenum at an $8.83/t net smelter return cutoff.