Name and Location
Ajax copper/gold project.

Location
British Columbia, Canada.

Project Owner/s
KGHM Polska Miedź (80%) and Abacus Mining & Exploration Inc (20%).

Project Description
The project includes the construction of an openpit copper/gold mine and an ore enrichment plant with all the necessary infrastructure.

The current concept envisages production from an openpit mine with a width of more than 2 km and a depth of about 500 m.

The ore will be blasted and transported to heaps.

In the next phase of the production cycle, the ore will be processed into concentrate in a processing plant built as part of the project.

Ore processing will be based on flotation.

Average production is estimated  53 000 t/y of copper and 114 000 oz/y of gold over a 19-year expected mine life.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
KGHM continues to see the Ajax copper and gold project, which was denied an environmental certificate in 2017, as a priority and is continuing to engage with First Nations, Vancouver-based partner Abacus Mining and Exploration reports.

In an Ajax update, issued on February 4, 2022, president and CEO Paul Anderson said that KGHM had indicated in a recent meeting that it planned to devote more attention to the project.

The project contains significant remaining quantities of copper and gold within a mineral reserve of 426-million tonnes at 0.29% copper, 0.19 g/t gld and 0.39 g/t silver. Contained metal is estimated at 2.7-billion pounds of copper, 2.6-million ounces of gold and 5.3-million ounces of silver.

A feasibility study was conducted on Ajax in 2016, with the project designed to mine 65 000 t/d over an 18-year mine life at the time. The project was subjected to a joint provincial and federal environmental review, which culminated in the decision by British Columbia to decline to issue an environmental assessment certificate for the project in late 2017.

The province determined that the potential adverse effects of the Ajax project outweighed the potential benefits.

Since then, KGHM, in consultation with Abacus, has worked to re-evaluate the project, taking into account relations with all project stakeholders, especially First Nations.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
KGHM, tel  +48 76 74 78 200