Copper Production After Tax NPV of C$71M
Rockcliff Metals Corporation (CSE: RCLF) have announced positive results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the company’s 100% owned Tower and Rail Project located in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake Greenstone Belt in the Snow Lake area of central Manitoba.
The PEA indicates the Project has the potential to generate positive economic returns through its extremely low capital intensity and low operating costs, validating the development strategy pursued by the company.
Highlights:
- C$115 million pre-tax NPV8, IRR 41% at Base Case1
- C$71 million post-tax NPV8, IRR 30%
- C$131 million post-tax NPV8, IRR 49% at spot prices
- Payback of 2.1 years
- Average steady state copper equivalent CuEq production of 18.6 thousand tonnes per annum
- Average steady state EBITDA of C$89 million per annum
- C1 cash costs of US$1.34/CuEq lb sold
- All-in sustaining costs of US$1.91/CuEq lb sold
- Pre-production capital cost of C$95 million
- Industry leading capital intensity of US$4,996/tonne CuEq production
- Copper recovery to Cu concentrate 97%
- Sorting decreases life of mine costs by over C$125 million, and nearly doubles mill annual CuEq output
President and CEO, Alistair Ross, said the PEA envisions developing the Tower Deposit in parallel with the refurbishment of the leased Bucko Mill facility, followed by the development of the Rail Deposit, resulting in a combined Life of Mine (LOM) of seven years, with exploration upside at both properties.
The mine design principles focus on responsible re-use of capital at Rail to enhance economics of successive mine development projects. Stopes are mined as large, mechanized shrinkage stopes with maximum use of automation and an effective bulk material handling system. The target of low mine operating costs for these Deposits to manage low metal price cycle risk is also achieved, with projected mining costs of C$48.06/tonne mined delivered through the crushing and sorting circuits at the mine site.
Based on test work completed to date, the use of a sorter effectively removes approximately 47% of the mass from the mined material with minimal metal losses. The waste from the sorter is placed underground as backfill. This key enabler allows for maintaining low operating costs down stream, effectively eliminating haulage cost to the mill, milling costs and tailings requirements for this waste material.
“The results of the PEA demonstrate that good economics are possible from a responsible ESG approach to new mine design,” Mr Ross said.
“The integration of modern mine technologies that dramatically improve the safety and health of workers underground and reduce the environmental footprint of our operations are immediately evident.
“The estimated low mine operating costs and low capital intensity will strengthen Rockcliff’s ability to manage through low metal price environments as indicated by the estimated C1 costs. The key opportunity that has surfaced from these results is the impact on financing, of adding potential mine life, and Rockcliff is fortunate in that it has a number of potential targets to follow up on.
“These include the possibility of adding Mineral Resources at Tower and Rail, and advancing the highly prospective Bur, Copperman and Freebeth properties further along in their development cycles.
“We look forward to continuing the work with local First Nations and communities as the next steps of the Project are planned and then executed. The overall results provide Rockcliff with exciting opportunities to further assess its extensive property portfolio, including five other named deposits and help prioritize a large number of exploration targets yet to be tested.”
