Yellowhead Mining Inc. has greatly increased the estimated size of its proposed Harper Creek copper-gold-silver mine near Vavenby.
According to a report released Thursday, the measured and indicated size of the copper ore body (at a 0.2 per cent cutoff) is now 815 million tonnes grading 0.29 per cent copper. This is a 53 per cent increase over the previous estimate.
The ore body is now estimated to contain 5.26 billion pounds of copper, an increase of 1.67 billion pounds of copper or 47 per cent.
A significant part of the increase in the measured and indicated size is a result of drilling that has expanded the resource at depth and to the north. Infill drilling has also improved the confidence in the resource and allowed the reclassification of 40 million tonnes of inferred material.
A preliminary economic assessment report was completed at the end of last March. The assessment demonstrated a 22-year project life based on a measured and indicated resource of 532 million tonnes at a grade of 0.31 per cent and a milling rate of 70,000 tonnes per day. Capital cost of the project would be $759 million.
The proposed Harper Creek project would be an open pit mine approximately 20 km southeast of Clearwater.
More information is available at www.yellowheadmining.com.