Orvana Minerals is one step closer to opening a copper and silver mine on its Copperwood project, near White Pine in the western Upper Peninsula.
The company released the results of a feasibility study this week that tried to best project the income Orvana can receive from the resources there over the expected 13-year life of the mine. They also outlined a choice to change engineering details like pillar size and entry design in order to be able to extract more minerals.
The mining would be underground, room-and-pillar style, using flotation to extract the copper, as is familiar to many U.P. residents from underground iron ore and copper mining of the past.
"A review of the mine plan resulted in redesign of entries and pillar dimensions to allow for a higher percentage of extraction on advance and a lower percentage of pillar recovery on retreat," says Jim Jacques, Orvana's VP of operations. "The redesign of the mine plan reduces dilution, improves grade, and results in a higher percentage of resource being mined."
Orvana says based on the lowest projected copper and silver prices, the net value of the mine's resources is about $30.8 million. If copper and silver prices remain as high as they are currently, that value is more like $313 million.
The study also accounted for taxes and fees, but ended up concluding that in the worst case, with the lowest copper and silver prices, the mine would pay for itself in a little more than six years. At the higher prices, it would pay for itself in just less than four years. The mine is projected to cost $213.5 million.
"The results of this feasibility study demonstrate the viability of this copper project," says Jacques.
The total mine production is expected to be about 1.5 million short tons of copper, but Orvana's sights also are set on nearby copper deposits that, according to the company's surveys, may be as much as 25 million metric tonnes. The Copperwood mine currently is in the process of permit applications through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jim Jacques, Orvana Minerals Corporation
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