First Quantum to trim work hours at stalled Panama copper mine
The decision may put some pressure on the new administration of President Jose Raul Mulino.
EDM Resources is moving toward the reopening of the Scotia zinc-lead mine 62 km northeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The mine has been on care and maintenance since the nosedive of commodity prices in 2008.
“EDM continues to make significant progress on an extensive range of tasks that are necessary to advance the Scotia mine to production,” said president and CEO Mark Haywood.
“Whilst completing the application to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans [Canada] is one of the major tasks our teams are working on, we are also busy advancing several other important and necessary steps in parallel so that the mine can be ready for a production decision as soon as permitting is completed,” he added.
For the department of fisheries and Oceans, EDM is completing the sampling of Atlantic salmon DNA. The company is also identifying additional potential locations for stream and/or river restoration for the fish habitat offsetting plan. Surface and ground water modeling are also underway.
The company is preparing the mine plans for geotechnical assessment, and is assessing high-grade ores that will be used to conduct dense media separation pilot plant testing. The results of the DMS testing should be available in mid-September.
EDM also continues widespread outreach to First Nation stakeholders in the province as part of its initiatives for garnering informed consent for the restart of the Scotia mine.
The prefeasibility study was updated in 2021 to show an after-tax net present value (8% discount) of C$128 million and an after-tax internal rate of return of 65%.
The life of the mine is 14.3 years after a pre-production capex and contingency of C$30.6 million. The five-year annual metals production is 35 million lb. for zinc and 15 million lb. for lead.
The Scotia mine has an estimated 25.5 million measured and indicated tonnes of ore grading 1.89% zinc, 0.99% lead. There are also 5.0 million inferred tonnes at 1.50% zinc and 0.66% lead.
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