Name of the Project
Casino copper/gold/molybdenum project.
Location
Yukon Territory, Canada.
Project Owner/s
Western Copper and Gold.
Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has examined the development of the Casino project, which comprises the processing of 1.3-billion tonnes of mineralised material for the mill and heap-leach facility.
The mill tailings and mine waste will be deposited in the tailings management facility (TMF), consistent with the design concepts considered during the best available tailings technology study as a base case development.
Phase 1 of the project envisages the construction of an openpit mine with a concentrator processing about 120 000 t/d and a gold heap-leach facility processing an estimated 25 000 t/d.
Initial production will focus on the deposit’s oxide cap as a heap-leach operation to recover gold and silver in doré form. The main sulphide deposit will be processed using a conventional concentrator to produce copper, gold, silver and molybdenum concentrates.
Phase 1 will produce 178-million pounds of copper, 231000 oz of gold, 1.36-million ounces of silver and 16.6-million pounds of molybdenum over its estimated 25-year mine life.
The PEA has also examined extending the operation after treating the first 1.3-billion tonnes of mineralised material in Phase 1. The extended operation will use the original concentrator and associated infrastructure at the same nominal processing rate of 120 000 t/d. An additional one-billion tonnes of mineralised material will be processed by the mill during the extended operation.
A secondary TMF is proposed to be built downstream of the original TMF to accommodate the additional tailings and waste rock associated with extended operations.
Phase 1 and 2 will together have an estimated mine life of 47 years.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case, Phase 1 of the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $3.62-billion and an internal rate of return of 23.3%, with a payback of three years.
Phase 1 and 2 together will have an estimated pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $3.7-billion and an internal rate of return of 23.1%.
Capital Expenditure
Phase 1 of the project requires an initial capital investment of $3.25-billion.
Phase 1 and 2 together will require an initial capital cost of $3.26-billion.
Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.
Latest Developments
None stated.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation (overall scientific and technical information, with a focus on project infrastructure, capital costs and economic analysis, and metallurgy, recovery methods, and process operating costs); Independent Mining Consultants (resource estimation, mining methods and mining costs); Aurora Geosciences (history, geology, exploration, drilling, and sampling); GeoSpark Consulting Inc (data verification); and Knight Piésold (tailings and heap-leach facilities).
Contact Details for Project Information
Western Copper and Gold , tel +1 604 684 9497 or email info@westerncopperandgold.com.