Name of the Project
Kemess underground (KUG) copper/gold project.

Location
The project is located in north-central British Columbia, Canada.

The KUG project is located about 6.5 km north of the existing Kemess South (KS) processing plant and other infrastructure.

Client
AuRico Metals.

Project Description
Kemess is host to the former KS mine, and the KUG and Kemess East projects.

The KUG project has a large indicated resource base of 246.4-million tonnes, including reserves of 107.4-million tonnes, but is currently constrained by tailings storage capacity of the mined-out KS openpit.

The updated KUG project feasibility study (March 2016) outlines a robust project, with significant production of gold and copper over a 12-year mine life.

The lateral extents (or footprint) of the ore reserve is about 570 m east-west and 90 m to 300 m north-south. The planned production rate of nine-million tonnes a year is considered well within the capacity of a cave footprint with these dimensions.

The cave footprint will be accessed and supported by a triple decline system, comprising access, ore-conveying and intake-air declines. Mine levels within and directly adjacent to the cave footprint comprise undercut, extraction, conveying and ventilation levels. Following extraction from the KUG cave and primary crushing underground, ore will be delivered to one of four primary jaw crushers located on the south side of the extraction level. Following crushing, ore will be transported by one of two transfer conveyors to a 3.2-km-long underground conveyor (in the conveyor decline) and then transferred to a 4.9 km surface conveyor that will deliver ore to the existing stockpile ahead of the process plant. Processing ore at a rate of nine-million tonnes a year will be achieved using one of the two former KS grinding circuits that was used to process KS ore. The original flotation, thickening and concentrate handling facilities will be used for processing KUG ore. Tailings will be pumped to and stored in the KS openpit, with sufficient capacity for a minimum 107.4-million tonnes of ore treated in the process plant.

Jobs to Be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of C$289-million and an internal rate of return of 12.6% in the base case. The project has a payback of 3.9 years in the base case.

Value
Total capital to first production has been estimated at C$524-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
AuRico Metals has submitted its permit applications to the Major Mines Permitting Office (MMPO) for the KUG project.

The Kemess project is undergoing a coordinated permitting review process, which means that all the required permit applications have been submitted and will be reviewed simultaneously.  

With the submission of the permit applications to the MMPO, the 45-day screening process, to ensure that the applications are complete, will begin.

“Once the permit applications have been screened and . . . accepted, the applications will enter the review phase, during which comments will be received and addressed under specified timelines,” the company has said in a statement.

The permitting process is expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2018.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
AuRico Metals, tel +1 416 216 2780, fax +1 416 216 2781 or email info@auricometals.ca.