Name of the Project
Casino copper/gold/molybdenum project.
Location
Yukon, Canada.
Project Owner/s
Western Copper and Gold Corporation.
Project Description
A feasibility study has confirmed Casino’s robustness and ability to withstand inflationary pressures.
The study proposes the construction of an openpit mine, with a concentrator processing 120 000 t/d to recover copper, gold, molybdenum and silver, as well as a 25 000 t/d oxide heap-leach facility to recover gold, silver and copper.
Average metal production is estimated at 163-million pounds a year of copper, 211 000 oz/y of gold, 1.28-billion ounces a year of silver and 15.1-million pounds a year of molybdenum.
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/molybdenum concentrates.
The mill operation has a mine life of 27 years and the heap-leach operation a mine life of 24 years.
Potential Job Creation
Not stated.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $3.47-billion and an internal rate of return of 21.1%, with a payback of 3.3 years at a copper price of $3.60/lb and a gold price of $1 700/oz.
Capital Expenditure
The project requires an initial capital investment of $3.62-billion.
Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.
Latest Developments
Western Copper and Gold has announced a strategic equity investment by Japanese group Mitsubishi Materials to advance the Casino project.
Western Copper is preparing to re-enter the Yukon’s environmental assessment process for Casino.
Rio Tinto is already a strategic investor in Western Copper. Under the Mitsubishi agreement, the Japanese firm will acquire shares representing 5% of Western's issued and outstanding shares, on an undiluted basis at C$2.63 a share.
The exact number of shares to be issued will depend on whether Rio Tinto Canada elects to exercise its pre-existing right to participate on a pro-rata basis in equity financings to maintain its current ownership interest, which, based on public filings, is about 7.84%.
Assuming Rio Tinto elects to exercise its participation right in full, then Western will issue 8 091 390 shares to Mitsubishi for aggregate gross proceeds of C$21.3-million and 878 809 shares to Rio Tinto for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2.3-million.
Western remains the sole owner of the Casino project and will continue to be the operator.
The company will use the proceeds of the strategic investment to advance the project and fund specific areas of study, developed with input from Mitsubishi, to progress to a development phase for the Casino project.
Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Western Copper and Gold, tel +1 604 684 9497 or email info@westerncopperandgold.com