Magnesium Projects
Property Name
Driftwood Creek
Marysville
Red Mountain Group
Botts Lake
Completed Phase
Preliminary Economic Assessment
Exploration
Exploration
Exploration
Current Phase
Pre-Feasibility Study
Exploration Drilling
Exploration Drilling
Exploration
Magnesium
Exceptional Applications
Driftwood Creek
Driftwood Creek Project is comprised of high grade magnesite which when smelted or calcined can produce three distinct products. These are magnesium metal, caustic calcined magnesia (CCM), and dead burned magnesia (DBM). A comparative economic and technology study by Hatch Consulting (Canada) in 2018 determined magnesium metal produced from Driftwood Creek may be profitable with a global minimum price cutoff of $4,000 USD per tonne, access to the US market and pricing remains a key criteria to profitability. The current price environment (2022) now supports the advancement of the magnesium metal production scenario, which is now the focus of the project. This report remains confidential.
Highlights of the project and Preliminary Economic Assessment for the production of DBM are as follows:
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164 kilometers north of Cranbrook, B.C.
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Production Profile: PEA outlines 19-year mine life, 3.5 year payback and C$529.8 million pre-tax NPV
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Mining and Milling: Potentially amenable to open-pit mining and established beneficiation methods
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Excellent Infrastructure: Access to rails, road, labor and electricity
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Exploration Potential: Mineralization traced over 2,000 meters; remains open along strike and at depth
Preliminary Economic Assessment*
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Pre-tax NPV @ 5% of $529.8 million, IRR of 24.5% with a 3.5-year payback
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Post-tax NPV @ 5% of $316.7million, IRR of 19.3% with a 4.0-year payback
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Initial capital costs of $235.9 million (Total life-of mine (“LOM”) – $239.8 includes sustaining/closure costs of $3.9 million and contingency costs of $40.0 million)
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Conventional quarry pit mine with a 1200 tonne per day (“tpd”) process plant using conventional crushing, grinding, flotation upgrading, calcination, and sintering to produce a saleable DBM product
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Cash costs of $350/tonne MgO
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All-in sustaining costs (“AISC”) of $351/tonne MgO
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Average annual MgO production of 169,700 tonnes during an 19 year mine life
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LOM average head grades of 43.27% MgO
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LOM MgO recoveries of 90%
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LOM strip ratio of 2.4 to 1 of rock to mineralized material
*The reader is advised that the preliminary economic assessment summarized in this is only intended to provide an initial, high-level review of the project. The PEA mine plan and economic model include the use of inferred mineral resources which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
Marysville
Marysville magnesite occurrences are located approximately 12 km (7.7 miles) south of Kimberly, BC. The Marysville sediment hosted magnesite occurs as coarse crystalline massive lenses that trend north-northeast, dip 50 to 80 degrees northwest, are 5-15 meters wide (up to 75 m width including interbedded magnesite, quartzite & siltstone), and individual magnesite lenses vary from 60 to 600 meter strike lengths (including minor fault offsets in the order of 5-75 m). Magnesite lenses form a combined strike length of approximately 2,200 meters along a total strike length of 6,000 meters, hosted in Lower Cambrian Cranbrook Formation quartzite (minor siltstone). Geological mapping suggests that the Cranbrook Formation is variable between 200 to 300 meters true thickness.
Red Mountain Group
The Red Mountain-Topaz-Cleland magnesite property is located 50 km south of Golden, The Red Mountain-Topaz-Cleland sparry magnesite occurrences are located in three separate areas of the property. Rock chip samples were taken on the Red Mountain property identifying an area of mineralization approximately 40 X 330 meters located along a subtle, but definitive ridge crest (weak topographic high, outcrop forming unit, west-northwest trend, steep to moderate south dip).
The magnesite on the Red Mountain-Topaz-Cleland property occurs as dolomite hosted, stratabound lenses that are approximately 10-40 meters in width (increased width and higher purity is noted in center of magnesite lens, increased CaO and Si02 near edges of magnesite, usually there are sharp contacts with dolomite).
Topaz Lake has been identified as an 180 X 425 meter area of mineralization southeast to the northwest related to plunging synclinal folding near Topaz Lake and with a shallow dipping magnesite horizon.
Cleland Lake has a 30 X 180 meter area of mineralization in the southeast portion of the property characterized by medium to coarse grained magnesite exposed on a dip slope, northwest trending, with a moderate to steep northeast dip.
Botts Lake
The Botts Lake magnesite property consists of claim 50 km south of Golden, BC. The Botts Lake sparry magnesite occurrences are located in the west portion of the property along a north-northwest trending, moderate relief topographic high. The magnesite on the Botts Lake property occurs as dolomite hosted, stratabound lenses that are approximately 10-40 meters in width (increased width and higher purity is noted in center of magnesite lens, increased CaO and Si02 near edges of magnesite, usually there are sharp contacts with dolomite).
Reports
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2018
Mineral Resource Estimate 2016
Geological, Geochemical, and Drilling 2015
Geological, Geochemical, and Drilling 2015