May 8 2014
InZinc Mining Ltd. is pleased to announce that the technical report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of its 100% owned West Desert zinc-iron-copper project in western Utah has been filed on SEDAR.
The results of the PEA were announced in an April 1, 2014 news release and illustrated the potential for low-cost zinc, copper and iron production through conventional bulk underground mining and processing methods while generating strong cash-flow and a high rate of return.
Key PEA Economic Parameters:
| After-tax Economics |
: |
NPV@ 8% US$258.1 million; IRR 23%; 3.7 year payback from start of production |
| Capital Costs |
: |
Initial US$247.4 million; Life of Mine US$388.9 million |
| Life of Mine Production |
: |
1,594.3 Mlbs zinc; 146.7 Mlbs copper; 14.9 Mt iron (magnetite) concentrate |
| Cash Cost per Lb Zinc |
: |
US$(0.04) C1 direct cash cost; US$0.50 C3 fully allocated cost |
| Mine Life |
: |
14.8 years |
* Long-term metal prices used in the study included zinc at $1/lb, copper at $3/lb, iron ore at $105/t (62% Fe, CFR-Tianjin), gold at $1,300/oz and silver at $21/oz; C1 and C3 costs as per Brook Hunt definitions and include sustaining capital
Metallurgical test work confirmed that the underground resources of the West Desert project are amenable to conventional flotation processing to produce marketable zinc and copper concentrates. The concentrates will respectively contain significant levels of indium and precious metals and are clean, with no deleterious elements at penalty levels. Test work also demonstrated that a marketable iron (magnetite) concentrate can be produced at very high recoveries and low expense using traditional magnetic separation. Efficient removal of a magnetite concentrate in advance of flotation improves the overall zinc and copper grades of feed to the flotation plant and is expected to enhance base metal recoveries.
The Project benefits from all-weather road access, on-site grid power, proximity to natural gas pipelines and is located 90 km from multiple transcontinental rail networks servicing western US ports and major North American markets. In addition, the West Desert Project also benefits from large and potentially expandable resources. The Project is fully permitted and bonded for future exploration.
Key PEA Conclusions:
- The potential for a multi-commodity revenue stream generated from the three concentrate products over an extended period (14.8 years in this study) is financially attractive
- Substantial resources at West Desert remain open for expansion to the east, west, and south; there is also potential for the discovery of new zones beyond these extensions
- West Desert is a project meriting substantial amounts of additional exploration and development work
The PEA was prepared by Mine Development Associates with contributions from International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc. in accordance with the definitions in Canadian National Instrument 43-101. All dollar amounts are US currency. The PEA is considered preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied that would enable classification as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.