Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV: HI) announced on Monday results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and mineral resource estimate for the White Pine North copper project, located in the historical copper range district of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
The PEA is highlighted by an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $416 million (at 8% discount) and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.8%.
New resource estimates show that the White Pine North project contains an indicated mineral resource of 133.4 million tonnes at 1.07% Cu and 14.9 g/t Ag, containing 3.2 billion pounds of copper and 63.8 million ounces of silver. Annual payable copper and silver production could reach 89 million pounds and 1.3 million ounces respectively over a 25-year mine life.
The PEA provides a base case assessment of mining the mineral resources of the White Pine project. It considers White Pine North as a standalone project and utilizes existing infrastructure to minimize initial capital expenditures, currently estimated at $457 million.
The White Pine North project is the extension of the historical White Pine mine that operated from 1953 to 1995. It was acquired by Highland Copper in 2013 from a wholly owned subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals (TSX: FM).
