Peru’s small miners block highways, camp outside Congress demanding registry extension
Analyst says that there are strong competing interests between Congress and small-scale miners that could escalate.
Trevali Mining (TSE: TV) jumped 5% on Wednesday after releasing the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment for its 100% owned Caribou zinc-lead-copper-silver-gold project in New Brunswick, Canada.
In early afternoon trade the Vancouver-based junior was changing hands at $1.07, up 4.4% on the Toronto Exchange, slightly off its high for the day. Around 240,000 shares in the $297 million company had traded.
The counter is up 54% in a year after raising the necessary funds last year to recommence production at the Caribou mine and mill complex located in the Bathurst mining camp.
The PEA – the company’s first National Instrument 43-101 compliant mine plan for the project – calls for initial construction starting as early as next month an expedited restart at Caribou in Q2 2015.
Pre-production initial capital costs are pegged at $36m with a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill already on site for existing infrastructure of 3,000 tonnes per day plant, a geochemical laboratory and tailings treatment facility.
The PEA outlines a 6.2 million tonne resource grading 6.11% zinc, 2.49% lead, 0.34% copper, 67.9 g/t silver, and 0.86 g/t gold.
Life of mine (6.3 years) average annual production is estimated at 93 million pounds of zinc, 33 million pounds of lead, 3 million pounds of copper, 730,000 ounces of silver and a some 1,500 ounces of gold.
Cash costs for Caribou came in at $0.46 per pound zinc equivalent with total site operating cost of $74.77 per tonne milled.
Trevali, which took ownership of the complex in 2012 after acquiring Maple Minerals in an all-stock deal valued at $22 million, said approximately 300 permanent fulltime positions will be created resulting and $57 million in direct royalties and tax payments.
Trevali can also haul ore from its 100%-owned Halfmile deposit located 20 kilometers south, while it builds up underground mine infrastructure at Caribou. Trial mining at Halfmile was conducted in 2012 and the ore was shipped to Glencore Xstrata’s Brunswick #12 mine for processing.
