Mining with gas: Copper-gold mine in Yukon to be powered with LNG

A new open-pit copper-gold mine in Canada’s Yukon Territory would be powered with natural gas.

Releasing an update today on its Casino project, Western Copper and Gold Corp. (TSE:WRN) says the company has partnered with Yukon Energy Corp., the territory’s energy utility, to evaluate strategies for supplying liquified natural gas (LNG) to the mine and the Yukon.

An LNG facility would be built near Fort Nelson, BC and the gas trucked to users. Western says the cost of supplying the LNG to Casino is consistent with the cost of fuel used as the basis for a prefeasibility study released in April. The mine has an initial capex budget of $2.13 billion.

The PFS recommended that the 30-year mine be built as an open pit mine and mill processing 120,000 tonnes per day. The facility would produce, on average, an annual 435,000 ounces of gold, 234 million pounds of copper, 13 million pounds of molybdenum, and 1.6 million ounces of silver over the first four years of production.

A feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.