PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior developer Carbine Resources has launched a prefeasibility study (PFS) on its Mount Morgan copper and gold project, in Queensland.
The ASX-listed company said on Wednesday that the study would likely be completed by the third quarter of this year, and would be used to expedite the bankable feasibility study
The PFS followed on from a November scoping study that estimated the Mt Morgan project could deliver some 36 000 oz/y of gold, 850 t/y of copper cathode and 230 000 t/y of pyrite concentrate, over an eight year mine-life.
The scoping study estimated that the Mount Morgan project would require a capital investment of some A$81.9-million, and would have an operating cost of A$32.70/t, while all-in sustaining costs were estimated at $393/oz.
Carbine in March signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with sulphur product distributor Jainson Labs India to develop formal offtake agreements for pyrite concentrate from Mt Morgan.
The Jainson MoU followed a conditional pyrite offtake agreement with industrial mineral distributor Talana, signed in January. Under that agreement, Talana could source between 200 000 t/y and 300 000 t/y of pyrite from the Mt Morgan project.