Name of the Project
Pumpkin Hollow copper project.

Location
The project is located about 11 km south-east of Yerington, in Lyon County, Nevada, in the US.

Client
Nevada Copper.

Project Description
Two cases for the development of the Pumpkin Hollow project have been proposed.

Case A involves the mining of the Eastern underground area, which includes the infrastructure to support a standalone 5 000 t/d underground mine and a 5 000 t/d process plant. Underground mining zones included in the mine plan extend between the 1040 and 2840 levels. Case A mineral reserves are estimated at 23.9-million tons grading 1.59% copper, 0.006 oz/t gold and 0.139 oz/t silver.

The project is expected to produce 60-million pounds of copper in the first five years of operations, including 9 000 oz of gold and 173 000 oz silver. Over the 13.5-year mine life, yearly output will average 50-million pounds of copper, 8 000 oz of gold and 150 000 oz of silver.

Case B has two separate mining areas. The Eastern area is planned to be mined using underground methods (long-hole stoping with paste backfill) and the Western area is planned to be mined using openpit mining methods (conventional truck-and-shovel). During this period, the underground mine will produce as much plant feed as possible and the openpit will supplement to provide an even feed rate of material into the process plant. The underground mineral reserve base for Case B has been limited to the mineral resources of the East Area deposits. After application of the modifying factors to the mineral resource, the resulting proven and probable mineral reserves total 32.6-million tons grading 1.29% copper, 0.005 oz/t gold and 0.113 oz/t silver, limited to the East deposit. The underground mine is planned as a 6 500 t/d operation and the openpit as a 63 500 t/d operation.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Case A has an after-tax net present value (NPV), at a 5% discount rate, of $247-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 22.9%, with a capital payback period of 4.9 years.

Case B has an after-tax NPV, at a 5% discount rate, of $1.1-billion and an IRR of 15.6%, with a payback of 4.7 years.

Value
Capital expenditure (capex) for Case A is estimated at $182.4-million.

Capex for the Case B development is estimated at $1.04-billion.

Duration
Case A copper production is targeted for production in 2019.

Latest Developments
Early construction works continue to ramp up at the Pumpkin Hollow underground project, while an optimisation study for the openpit is progressing and is expected to be released in the coming months.

Nevada Copper has reported that work is continuing on the completion of the final 237 ft of the existing 1 900 ft shaft and that contractor Cementation is preparing to ramp up development mining.

CEO Matt Gili has said that the openpit optimisation study shows the strong potential benefits of a phased approach to openpit development at an “appropriate time in the future”.

The study, which is being undertaken by Golder Associates, is targeting a reduced capital, higher-return initial openpit phase. Nevada Copper is likely to focus initially on a 30 000 t/d to 40 000 t/d openpit operation and a smaller mining fleet, which will reduce capital expenditure to about half of the amount contemplated in the existing technical study.

Additional pit shell engineering design work will prioritise project returns over scale, including a reduced stripping ratio which, if successful, will allow for significant improvements to preproduction capital and related operating costs.

Nevada Copper has also reported that the 2018 drilling programme is already yielding positive results, including potential further extension of the north pit deposit.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Cementation USA (shaft preparation for resinking).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Nevada Copper, tel +1 604 683 8992 or emailinfo@nevadacopper.com.