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Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Deposit
Terrane Metals' key asset is the Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Project 155 km northwest of Prince George in central British Columbia, Canada. Terrane Metals purchased the project in 2006 after the previous owner, Placer Dome Inc., was acquired by Barrick Gold Corporation. From 1984 to 2004, Placer Dome and others had completed 900 drill holes in over 200,000 metres of drilling to define the porphyry-style copper-gold resource. Placer Dome had also completed a pre-feasibility study in 1991, received a mine development certificate in 1993 and was reassessing the project in 2005 before being acquired by Barrick.
Terrane Metals has been rapidly advancing the Mt. Milligan Project towards mine production since acquiring the property in July 2006. The company conducted a 69 hole - 20,072 metre drilling program to acquire representative fresh material for metallurgical test work, expand the resource in the DWBX and Southern Star zones, and collect geotechnical information across the MBX, 66, and Southern Star zones. Terrane Metals also re-established the environmental baseline studies, completed a NI 43-101 mineral reserve estimate, optimized the metallurgical process and mine design, and completed a Feasibility Update Study. Terrane has received an Environmental Assessment (EA) Certificate and a Mines Act Permit from the province of British Columbia, and the project is in the final stages of the federal EA review with approval expected in Q4 2009.
Mt. Milligan Reserve (October 2009)
Metal Prices of $US1.60/lb Cu and $US690/oz Au
$US4.10/tonne NSR cut-off
Category |
Tonnes
(Million) |
Cu
(%) |
Au
(g/t) |
In-situ Cu lb
(Million) |
In-situ Au oz
(Million) |
Proven |
274.6 |
0.210 |
0.438 |
1,273 |
3.87 |
Probable |
207.8 |
0.187 |
0.322 |
851 |
2.16 |
Total |
482.4 |
0.200 |
0.388 |
2,124 |
6.02 |
Mt. Milligan Resource(1) (Inclusive of Mineral Reserve) (October 2009)
Metal Prices of $US2.00/lb Cu and $US800/oz Au
$US4.10/tonne NSR cut-off
Category |
Tonnes
(Million) |
Cu
(%) |
Au
(g/t) |
In-situ Cu lb
(Million) |
In-situ Au oz
(Million) |
Measured |
334.6 |
0.197 |
0.398 |
1,453 |
4.28 |
Indicated |
372.1 |
0.169 |
0.269 |
1,386 |
3.22 |
Total |
706.7 |
0.182 |
0.330 |
2,840 |
7.50 |
Inferred |
20.5 |
0.154 |
0.205 |
70 |
0.14 |
Note:
Note: (1) Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Highlights
- July 2006 - Re-initiated extensive environmental baseline studies as well as public and First Nations consultation programs
- September 2006-August 2007 - Completed 20,072 metres of large diameter core drilling in 69 holes to produce a metallurgical bulk sample, upgrade the mineral resource and collect geotechnical information
- July 2007 - Finalized bench-scale and pilot plant metallurgical test work programs
- August 2007 - Completed initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate with Measured and Indicated Resources
- September 2007 - Terrane Metals is granted a Section 11 Order from the BC Government setting out the formal scope, procedures and methods for an environmental assessment and review of the Project. A key milestone in the permitting process
- October 2007 - NI 43-101 compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment was completed by Wardrop Engineering Inc as part of an on-going $20 million Feasibility Study
- April 2008 - NI 43-101 compliant Feasibility Study prepared by Wardrop Engineering Inc.
- May 2008 - Terrane announced that a contract for the procurement of long lead-time process plant equipment has been awarded to Metso Minerals Industries, Inc. ("Metso"). Metso will supply the Primary Crusher, SAG Mill, two Ball Mills and other associated process plant equipment
- May 2008 - The Company entered into a letter agreement in respect of a loan guarantee and a joint venture option agreement with majority shareholder Goldcorp Inc. Details regarding the letter agreement can be found here
- August 2008 - Terrane Shareholders Approve Goldcorp Transaction. click here for details
- September 2008 - Terrane Metals announced that the 9,000 page Environmental Assessment Application ("Application") for the commercial development of the Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Project was accepted for review by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office ("BC EAO")
- October 2008 - Terrane announced an Engineering and Procurement contract to Wardrop Engineering Inc. A Letter of Award was signed with ABB Switzerland Ltd. to supply process plant drive motors for one SAG Mill and two Ball Mills. Siemens AG contracted to deliver three transformers for mine site substations.
- March 2009 - Terrane received from the province of British Columbia an Environmental Assessment ("EA") Certificate for its Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Project
- September 2009 - Terrane received the Mines Act Permit from the province of British Columbia
- October 2009 - Terrane completes Feasibility Update Study incorporating detailed engineering, procurement and permitting since completion of the April 2008 Feasibility Study. Announces 31% expansion of the Mineral Reserve to 2.1 billion lbs copper and 6.0 million oz gold
Forecast Project Milestones
- Q4 2009 - Receive Environmental Assessment Certificate from federal government
- Q4 2009 - Feasibility Study Update Completion
- Q2 2010 - Commence Mine Construction
- Q1 2013 - Mine Production
Feasibility Study
In October 2009 Terrane Metals announced the results of a Feasibility Update Study on the Mt. Milligan Project prepared by Wardrop Engineering Inc. The Project is based on a conventional truck-shovel open pit mine and 60,000 tonnes per day (t/d) copper flotation concentrator to be built over a 30-month period at a capital cost of $915 million. Commercial production is scheduled to commence Q1 2013. Average annual metal production over a 22-year mine life is forecast to be 81 million pounds (lb) copper and 194,500 ounces (oz) gold. The mine plan has been designed for extraction of higher grade and gold-rich reserves in the early years. In the first six years of the mine plan gold production will average 262,100 oz per year and account for 55% of the revenue. Highlights of the Feasibility Update Study are:
- Gold in reserve +31% to 6.0 million oz (second largest gold reserve in Canada)
- Copper in reserve +33% to 2.1 billion lb
- Mine life increased to 22 years
- Life-of-Mine strip ratio steady at 0.84/1
- Capital cost steady at C$915 million
- Payback 4.1 years
- Pre-Tax Internal Rate of Return 17.2%
- Net Present Value (5%) C$1.05 billion
The Feasibility Study Pre-Tax Metal Price Matrix can be viewed here  .
The NI 43-101 Technical Report for the 2009 Study will be filed on SEDAR
by October 23, 2009 .
View Mt. Milligan Video .
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