Ausenco Engineering to undertake project
development planning services
CZN-TSX
CZICF-OTCQB
VANCOUVER, Jan. 24, 2017 /CNW/ - Canadian Zinc
Corporation (TSX: CZN; OTCQB: CZICF) ("the Company" or
"Canadian Zinc") is pleased to announce that it has engaged AMC
Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd.
("AMC") and Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc.
("Ausenco") to complete a Definitive Feasibility Study
("DFS") to support the project debt financing of the Prairie
Creek Zn-Pb-Ag Mine in the Northwest
Territories, Canada.
Discussions to date with financial institutions have confirmed
that the opportunity of raising project debt financing for the
Prairie Creek Mine would be enhanced by completing a definitive or
bankable feasibility study which would address all the contingences
in the required detail and help to manage or reduce the various
risk factors.
In addition, the Prairie Creek Prefeasibility Study
("PFS"), completed in 2016 by AMC and Tetra Tech Inc.,
recommended certain aspects for further detailed study and
identified a number of opportunities for optimizing and potentially
enhancing the project economics, including a front-end engineering
and design phase that would complete engineering to the stage where
the design can be used to obtain fixed pricing from construction
contractors.
The Company expects that the Definitive Feasibility Study will
be completed by mid-2017.
Project Development Planning
Canadian Zinc has also engaged Ausenco to undertake project
development planning services for the Prairie Creek Mine and
deliver a robust optimized project development plan that can be
used to advance the project to production and, at the same time,
provide a critical link to the project financing plan by providing
potential providers of debt or equity with a clear path to
profitable production.
Ausenco will complete required engineering utilizing a
cost-effective project design methodology to support the
development of a high level execution plan which will be focused on
making the best possible use of existing infrastructure and
construction materials on site so as to provide a lower cost or
faster time-frame to production for the project.
Ausenco has been selected as this company, with complete
engineering services based in the Vancouver area, has the relevant experience
and expertise, including northern design and project execution at
brownfield sites, to prepare a Project Execution Plan that will
define the approach to constructing the Prairie Creek project. This
will include the development of a contracting and procurement
strategy for further stages of work, which will align with the
project execution schedule and will serve to support the capital
cost estimate and make provision for the identified execution risks
and opportunities. The plan will be developed with the objective of
converting it to an Engineering Procurement and Construction
Management ("EPCM") contract at the appropriate time.
About AMC
AMC is an industry leader in mine engineering services and
support for large-scale development projects and operating mines
and has extensive knowledge of the underground aspects of the
Prairie Creek Mine, having prepared various Mineral Resource and
Reserve estimates, developed the proposed mine plan and
participated in the 2012 PFS and 2016 PFS Update. Since the
delivery of the 2016 PFS AMC has undertaken a gap analysis to
identify any project aspects that require further detail to be
considered at the definitive feasibility level.
About Ausenco
Ausenco is a diversified engineering, construction and project
management company providing services to the global resource and
energy sectors. Ausenco's experience in base metal and northern
projects ranges from conceptual studies for new project
developments to brownfield expansions with EPCM or EPC
delivery.
Ausenco has recently provided EPCM services for the expansion
and modernization of a copper-molybdenum mine in northern BC while
working with the constraints of a cold weather brownfield site and
provided detailed design and site construction supervision of ice
roads and airstrip at a diamond mine in the NWT.
Ausenco has also delivered a number of projects under Lump Sum
Turnkey contracts which provide cost, schedule and performance
certainty often required by financiers and investors. Ausenco is
currently completing the process plant and other support
infrastructure for a gold project in Nova
Scotia under a Lump Sum Turnkey contract.
About the Prairie Creek Mine
The Prairie Creek Project was the subject of a Preliminary
Feasibility Study and Technical Report completed by AMC Mining
Consultants (Canada) Ltd., and
Tetra Tech Inc. with input from Canadian Zinc personnel and
consultants. The PFS was completed in March
2016 and the Amended Technical Report (the "Technical
Report") was filed under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com
in September 2016.
The Prairie Creek Mine hosts proven and probable Mineral
Reserves of 7.60 million tonnes averaging 8.93% zinc, 8.33% lead,
and 127.58 g/t silver within Measured and Indicated Mineral
Resources of 8.70 million tonnes grading 9.5% zinc, 8.9% lead and
136 g/t silver. In addition, the Technical Report confirms a large
Inferred Mineral Resource of 7.05 million tonnes grading 11.3%
zinc, 7.7% lead and 166 g/t silver and additional exploration
potential.
Over the 17 year mine-life, Prairie Creek's projected average
annual mine production is expected to be approximately 60,000
tonnes of zinc concentrate and 55,000 tonnes of lead concentrate
containing approximately 86 million pounds of zinc, 82 million
pounds of lead, and 1.7 million ounces of silver.
There remains good potential for additional project
optimization, enhanced economics and further extending the life of
the Prairie Creek Mine.
About Canadian Zinc
Canadian Zinc is a TSX-listed exploration and development
company trading under the symbol "CZN". The Company's key project
is the 100%-owned Prairie Creek Project, a fully permitted,
advanced-staged zinc-lead-silver property, located in the
Northwest Territories. Canadian
Zinc also owns an extensive land package in central Newfoundland that it is exploring for
copper-lead-zinc-silver-gold deposits.
Qualified Person: Alan
Taylor, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, Chief
Operating Officer and Director of the Company, who is a
Non-Independent Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument
43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
("NI 43-101"), has prepared, supervised the preparation of
or reviewed, the parts of this News Release that are of a
scientific or technical nature.
Cautionary Statement – Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain forward-looking
information, including, among other things, the advancement of
mineral properties. This forward looking information includes, or
may be based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to
management's expectations with respect to, among other things, the
completion of transactions, the issue of permits, the size and
quality of mineral resources, future trends for the company,
progress in development of mineral properties, future production
and sales volumes, capital costs, mine production costs, demand and
market outlook for metals, future metal prices and treatment and
refining charges, the outcome of legal proceedings, the timing of
exploration, development and mining activities, acquisition of
shares in other companies and the financial results of the company.
There can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be
accurate and actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Mineral
resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability. Inferred mineral resources are considered too
speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to
them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.
There is no certainty that mineral resources will be converted into
mineral reserves.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to
disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can
economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms
in this press release, such as "measured," "indicated," and
"inferred" "resources," which the SEC guidelines prohibit U.S.
registered companies from including in their filings with the
SEC.
SOURCE Canadian Zinc Corporation