Mineralized material will be trucked from the open pit to two primary crushers located outside the pit before being conveyed to the coarse ore stockpile ahead of two semi-autogenous grinding and ball mill lines (three lines from year 8 onwards). Thereafter, material will be concentrated using conventional copper and molybdenum flotation technologies to produce a copper concentrate containing gold as a by-product and molybdenum concentrate. Based on the metallurgical test work completed to date, LOM metal recoveries are expected to be approximately 90% for copper, 64% for gold and 57% for molybdenum.
Concentrate Transportation
Both copper and molybdenum concentrates will be transported by rail from the Project to the port of Mejillones, near Antofagasta, in Chile for export by ship to Asian customers (the molybdenum concentrates are assumed to be sold in Chile). The railway line connecting Antofagasta and the city of Salta is located approximately ten kilometers from the Project. The railway line has the capacity to handle the transportation of all of the concentrates produced at the Project and the construction of a loading facility and rail spur near the concentrator has been included as part of the capital cost estimate. It has been assumed that the Project will operate its own fleet of locomotives and rolling stock to transport the concentrates and consumables between the mine site and port.
Capital Cost Estimates
Capital cost estimates for the Project have been completed. As previously discussed, the concentrator will begin operations with two milling and flotation lines before a third line is added and begins operation in year eight. Approximately 242 million tonnes of preproduction stripping will be required prior to mining operations commencing. It has been estimated that it will take approximately 2.5 years to complete preproduction stripping at a capitalized cost of $416.1 million The cost of preproduction stripping, including removal of the leach cap, has been included in the initial capital cost estimate.
The following table summarizes the capital cost estimates in the PEA:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EstimateDescription (millions)----------------------------------------------------------------------------Mine $581.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Preproduction stripping $416.1----------------------------------------------------------------------------Plant and Processing $685.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Infrastructure $215.3----------------------------------------------------------------------------Tailings Dam and Waste Rock Storage $139.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Other $581.0----------------------------------------------------------------------------Contingency $386.5---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total $3,005.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Startup Working Capital $54.9----------------------------------------------------------------------------Capital costs for 3rd mill and flotation line andassociated ancillary costs $431.2----------------------------------------------------------------------------LOM Sustaining Capital Costs $1,375.5----------------------------------------------------------------------------Note: Figures above may not add up due to rounding.
