Sep 6 2017
Lundin Mining Corporation ("Lundin Mining" or the "Company") today reported its Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates as at June 30, 2017.
On a consolidated and attributable basis, contained metal in the Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve categories totaled 3,232 kt of copper, 3,415 kt of zinc and 130 kt of nickel.
Commenting on the update, Mr. Paul Conibear, President and CEO of Lundin Mining said "We are pleased that our exploration efforts continue to add great value to our assets. Exploration success at Candelaria has resulted in further significant increases in underground Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves that will allow us to continue to advance mine plan optimization and mine life extension in Chile. Study work and approval of the Zinc Expansion Project at Neves-Corvo and the Eagle East development at Eagle during the last year have contributed to increased Mineral Reserves at both mines. In the light of improved market conditions, we plan to accelerate exploration at all our mine sites in 2018 as well as advance at least two new copper-focused greenfield exploration projects".
Highlights
- Total Candelaria Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources have increased by approximately 7.5% to 740.9 Mt at 0.70% Cu, from 689.0 Mt at 0.64% Cu reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting the continued success of the exploration campaigns.
- Total Candelaria Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves have increased by approximately 3% to 497.5 Mt at 0.56% Cu, despite mining depletion. The open pit Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves, excluding stockpiles, have decreased to 315.9 Mt at 0.53% Cu, from 337.6 Mt at 0.54% Cu reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting 12 months of depletion by mining.
- Total Candelaria Underground Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves now stand at 89.3 Mt at 0.88% Cu. This is a significant increase of 38.1 Mt over last year reflecting continued exploration success, particularly in the Candelaria Norte underground mine.
- An initial Eagle East Probable Mineral Reserve was reported on April 10, 2017 containing 1.5 Mt at 3.7% Ni and 3.0% Cu. The total combined Eagle and Eagle East Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves now stand at 4.7 Mt at 2.7% Ni and 2.3% Cu.
- Copper Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at Neves-Corvo increased to 29.1 Mt at 2.4% Cu from 26.1 Mt at 2.7% Cu reported as of June 30, 2016, despite mining depletion. Zinc Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves have increased to 30.4 Mt at 7.7% Zn from 23.4 Mt at 7.2% Zn reported as of June 30, 2016, reflecting approval of the Zinc Expansion Project.
- Total copper Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources at Neves-Corvo has been reduced by mining depletion and geological re-interpretation to stand at 61.7 Mt at 2.4% Cu compared to 70.0 Mt at 2.7% Cu reported as of June, 2016. However, the total zinc Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources remain almost unchanged at 106.5 Mt at 6.1% Zn.
- At Zinkgruvan, the zinc Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves have increased to 11.9 Mt at 7.2% Zn and 2.9% Pb and copper Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves have increased to 5.3 Mt at 1.8% Cu.
Candelaria and Ojos
Open pit Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual pit shell based on metal prices of US$3.16/lb copper and US$1,000/oz gold and are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.2% copper. Underground Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.6% copper. Mineral Reserves for the open pit and underground for the Candelaria property are reported at cut-off grades of 0.28% and 0.6% copper, respectively. Underground Mineral Reserves for the Ojos del Salado property (Santos and Alcaparrosa mines) are reported at cut-off grades of 0.63% and 0.66% copper, respectively. Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves for Candelaria and Ojos del Salado were estimated by mine technical staff at Candelaria and Ojos, respectively. Patricio Calderón, Superintendent Resource Estimation, Yerko Peralta, Open Pit Mine Engineer and Cristian Erazo, Underground Mine Engineer, each of whom is a Registered Member, Chilean Mining Commission, employed by the Candelaria mining complex and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, supervised the preparation of the Mineral Resource, open pit Mineral Reserve and underground Mineral Reserve estimates respectively, and the scientific and technical information on Candelaria contained in this news release.
For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled Technical Report for the Candelaria Copper Mining Complex, Atacama Province, Region III, Chile dated January 17, 2017, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Neves-Corvo and Semblana
The Mineral Resources are reported above cut-off grades of 1.0% for copper and 3.0% for zinc. The copper and zinc Mineral Reserves have been calculated using variable Net Smelter Return (NSR) values based on area and mining method. The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account copper, lead, zinc and silver grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs. The copper Mineral Reserves are reported above a site average cut‐off grade equivalent to 1.3%. For zinc Mineral Reserves an average cut‐off grade equivalent to 5.5% is used. Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources for Neves-Corvo were estimated by the mine geology and mine engineering departments at Neves-Corvo under the guidance of David Nicholls, Technical Services Manager, Nelson Pacheco, Chief Geologist, and Fernando Cartaxo, Chief Mine Planning Engineer, each of whom is employed by the Neves-Corvo mine. Nelson Pacheco EurGeol, prepared the Neves Corvo Mineral Resource estimate and Antonio Salvador, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, reviewed and approved the Mineral Reserve estimate, and the scientific and technical information for Neves-Corvo contained in this news release. Both are Qualified Persons as defined under NI 43-101.
The Mineral Resources at Semblana are reported above a cut-off grade of 1.0% copper. The Mineral Resource estimate contained in this news release was prepared by Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining, who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101.
For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Neves-Corvo Mine, Portugal dated June 23, 2017, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Zinkgruvan
The zinc Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are reported above a site average cut-off grade of 3.7% zinc equivalent. The copper Mineral Resources and Reserves are reported above cut-off grades of 1.0% and 1.5% respectively. The zinc Mineral Reserves have been calculated using variable NSR values based on area and mining method. The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account copper, lead, zinc and silver grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs. The Zinkgruvan Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates are prepared by the mine's geology and mine engineering department under the guidance of Anja Hagerud, Resource Manager, and Jan Kläre, Mine Manager, both employed by Zinkgruvan mine. Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining and David Allison, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, each of whom is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resource estimates and the scientific and technical information for Zinkgruvan contained in this news release.
For further information, refer to the Technical Report entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Zinkgruvan Mine, Central Sweden dated January 18, 2013, which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Eagle and Eagle East
The Eagle Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are reported above a fixed NSR cut-off of US$116/t. The Eagle East Mineral Resources and Reserves are reported above a fixed NSR cut-offs of US$142/t and US$160/t respectively. The NSR is calculated on a recovered payable basis taking in to account nickel, copper, cobalt, gold and PGM grades, metallurgical recoveries, prices and realization costs. The Eagle Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates are prepared by the mine's geology and mine engineering department under the guidance of Robert Mahin, CPG, Chief Geologist and Josh Lam, Senior Mine Engineer, both of whom are employees of the Eagle mine. The Eagle East Mineral Resource estimate was prepared by Graham Greenway, Pr.Sci.Nat., Group Resource Geologist, Lundin Mining. Robert Mahin prepared the Eagle Mineral Resource estimate and reviewed and approved the Eagle East Mineral Resource estimate and David Allison, CEng MIMMM, Group Mining Engineer, Lundin Mining, reviewed and approved the Eagle and Eagle East Mineral Reserve estimates and the scientific and technical information on Eagle and Eagle East contained in this news release. Both are Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101.