Lundin Mining Corporation has released the results of a Future Underground Materials Handling Study for its Neves - Corvo project.
The Canadian base metals mining company had identified two options for dealing with underground materials at the mine in southern Portugal.
The first is a Shaft Option, which involves a new rock-hoisting and man-riding shaft approximately 1,200 meters deep. It will be situated to the north-east of the existing mine surface facilities, this would take it between the Semblana and Lombador mineralization.
The second is called the Decline Option. This would involve a new decline from the existing plant area equipped with a conveyor system and man and material access facilities. This would have a two leg decline which would be driven by a high speed tunnel boring machine. It would be made to pass close to and underneath the Semblana deposit before it proceeds to the deeper Lombador resource.
As per the study the Shaft Option is to have a higher capital cost but lower operating cost than the Decline Option. At the same time it will need a longer development schedule and would have less positional and sequencing flexibility. The next level of study which will consider the new exploration results is now being conducted before a final decision can be made.