VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Northcliff Resources’ majority owned Sisson Mines has received Canadian federal approval for the Sisson tungsten/molybdenum mine, in New Brunswick, following an environmental assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
The federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement posted to the New Brunswick website that the Sisson project “will bring about significant new economic opportunities to the people of New Brunswick”.
LeBlanc determined that, during construction and operations, the mine will create jobs and generate business opportunities for Indigenous peoples and nearby communities. “This project will also help rejuvenate New Brunswick's mining industry and add a source of tungsten to Canada's mineral production."
The provincial government welcomed the decision. “The economic impact of the Sisson mine project will be huge for New Brunswick. The federal environmental assessment approval moves this project one step closer to putting hundreds of New Brunswickers to work,” Premier Brian Gallant weighed in.
The Sisson Partnership, comprising Northcliff (a Hunter Dickenson affiliate) and New Zealand-based Todd Minerals, will invest an estimated C$579-million in the mine development that is expected to create 500 jobs during the construction phase and another 300 permanent jobs over the 27-year life of the mine.
In October 2013, Northcliff announced Todd as a financing partner for Sisson. Todd has completed a staged investment in 2014, and now has an 11.5% interest, with Northcliff holding the balance of 88.5% in the Sisson Partnership, which owns the Sisson project.
The provincial government estimates the project will result in C$280-million in mineral royalties to New Brunswick, as well as C$245-million in tax revenue over the life of the project.
In February, the province and six Maliseet First Nations reached an accommodation agreement to share a projected 9.8% of provincial royalty revenue that will be generated by the Sisson mine project under the Metallic Minerals Tax Act.
"The decision reinforces the thoroughness of the environmental assessment submitted by the Sisson partnership, reflecting our commitment to create a project that will bring economic benefits to New Brunswick while protecting the environment. Our focus now will be on securing offtake and financing to advance the project,” Northcliff president and CEO Chris Zahovskis stated on Friday.
Northcliff in January 2013 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 4.1-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 said it 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 has a C$418-million NPV, which is equal to $5.40 per Northcliff share, based on 77.39-million outstanding shares, a 16.3% IRR and a 4.5-year payback on the initial capital expense.
Located 100 km by road north-west of Fredericton, the Sisson property hosts 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.