Kutcho Copper Corp.
(TSXV: KC, OTC:
KCCFF) (“Kutcho Copper” or the “Company”)
is pleased to announce it has begun work on a feasibility study for
its high grade Kutcho copper-zinc development project located in
northwestern British Columbia. CSA Global Consultants Canada Ltd.
(“CSA Global”, an ERM Group company) has been chosen to lead the
feasibility study and will be supported by a team of resource,
geotechnical, environmental, metallurgical, processing, and mining
consultants.
“With a significant amount of preliminary work
already completed, and now the selection of CSA Global to lead the
feasibility study, we look forward to an efficient and timely
process in completing the next significant milestone in the life
cycle of the Kutcho project,” stated Vince Sorace, President and
CEO of Kutcho Copper. “We have recently seen an encouraging rise in
the price of copper and, along with bullish sentiment for the
coming years and the accelerating trend towards the electrification
of everything, Kutcho is well positioned to take advantage of this
anticipating completion of the feasibility study in Q2, 2021.
Kutcho is a high margin, low capital project with significant
upside potential; our objective in 2021 will be to continue to
de-risk and advance the project towards a production decision.”
Under the engineering lead of CSA Global, who
will undertake the mining, hydrology and site water balance work,
the feasibility study team will be supported by Mineit for mining
engineering, processing and recovery, reserve estimation and
financial modelling; Allnorth for process plant and infrastructure
design and engineering and Piteau Associates for waste and tailings
management engineering and design. Incorporated into the
feasibility study team, but contracted directly to Kutcho Copper,
will be SIM Geological Inc. for resource modeling and estimation,
Terrane Geoscience Inc. for mining geotechnical engineering, and
OnSite Engineering Inc. for main access road design and
engineering.
Kutcho PFS
Highlights (2017)
Kutcho Copper completed a Pre-Feasibility study
(“PFS”) dated July 31, 2017 that demonstrated positive economics
with an after-tax NPV of CAD$265 million and an IRR of 27.6%. The
Company completed the acquisition of the project in December 2017
with the support of Wheaton Precious Metals, involving a staged
financing package of over $100 million. The Kutcho project benefits
from existing ground access, and an on-site camp and airstrip.
Proximal highway access will facilitate the shipping of concentrate
from the nearby port at Stewart. Additional details can
be found in the technical report on SEDAR.
Significant
Milestones
Achieved in 2019
& 2020 to be
Incorporated
into the
Feasibility
Study
Include:
1) Completed an updated mineral resource
estimate for the Main, Esso and Sumac deposits resulting in 17.26
Mt of measured & indicated mineral resources at 2.61% CuEq1 and
10.71MT of Inferred mineral resources at 1.67% CuEq1 (refer to
Table 1 below for details).
- Significant exploration potential
remains between, below and along strike from the existing mineral
resources, providing further upside opportunities to grow the size
of the project.
- The updated mineral resource
incorporates the significant work and new drilling conducted by
Kutcho Copper during its first year of ownership of the Project,
resulting in a substantial 84% increase in inferred mineral
resources compared to the 2017 resource estimate. See news release
dated March 4th, 2019 and our website at www.kutcho.ca or SEDAR at
www.sedar.com for the 2017 NI 43-101 Technical Report for previous
mineral resource estimate details.
Table 1. Kutcho
Project Mineral Resources
Estimate
Class |
Tonnes (000) |
CuEq (%) |
Cu (%) |
Zn (%) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
Main Deposit |
Measured |
5,831 |
2.66 |
1.92 |
2.78 |
0.48 |
28.7 |
Indicated |
9,003 |
2.20 |
1.62 |
2.13 |
0.40 |
29.2 |
Measured + Indicated |
14,834 |
2.38 |
1.74 |
2.38 |
0.43 |
29.0 |
Inferred |
1,902 |
1.98 |
1.31 |
2.16 |
0.48 |
29.7 |
Esso Deposit |
Indicated |
2,425 |
3.98 |
2.52 |
4.76 |
0.81 |
64.0 |
Inferred |
1,025 |
2.30 |
1.60 |
2.23 |
0.52 |
41.4 |
Sumac Deposit |
Inferred |
7,779 |
1.52 |
1.10 |
1.60 |
0.17 |
16.9 |
Main + Esso + Sumac Combined |
Measured |
5,831 |
2.66 |
1.92 |
2.78 |
0.48 |
28.7 |
Indicated |
11,428 |
2.58 |
1.81 |
2.68 |
0.49 |
36.5 |
Measured + Indicated |
17,259 |
2.61 |
1.85 |
2.72 |
0.49 |
33.9 |
Inferred |
10,706 |
1.67 |
1.18 |
1.76 |
0.26 |
21.5 |
- The estimates in the table are
considered to be amenable to underground extraction methods. The
base case cut-off grade is 1.2% CuEq based on the formula CuEq
= (Cu% x 0.825) + (Zn% x 0.302) + (Ag g/t x 0.004) +
(Au g/t x 0.262). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves
because the economic viability has not been demonstrated.
- Estimate assumes Mining
(underground) US $34.00/t, Processing US $18.00/t, US G&A
$10/t, copper price US $3.00/lb, zinc price US $1.25/t, gold price
US $1350/oz, silver price US $17.00/oz, copper payable recovery
82.5%, zinc payable recovery 72.5%, silver payable recovery 45%,
gold payable recovery 40%
- Effective date of resource estimate
February 22nd, 2019
- 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 also no certainty that
these inferred mineral resources will be converted to the measured
and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral
reserves, once economic considerations are applied. It is
reasonably expected that the majority of inferred mineral resources
could be upgraded to indicated or measured mineral resources with
continued exploration.
- Assumptions used to derive the
cut-off grades in order to meet the NI43-101 requirement for
mineral resource estimates to demonstrate “reasonable prospects for
eventual economic extraction”. The cut-off grades to be used in the
upcoming feasibility study may vary from those used to limit the
mineral resources reported herein, as the inputs to that study are
determined. No inference is implied in the changes to the
assumptions used in the cut-off grade calculations from the prior
mineral resource estimates as to what will be used in the upcoming
feasibility, as those assumptions remain to be determined.
2) Additional testwork delivered improved
metallurgical results including (see press release dated June 25,
2020):
- Main Lens flotation recoveries
improved to 87.4% copper, 63.8% zinc, 36.9% gold and 59.0%
silver
- Esso Lens flotation recoveries
improved to 94.5% copper, 89.3% zinc, 40.8% gold and 71.2%
silver
- Main Lens tailings stream leaching
achieved additional incremental recoveries of an estimated 8.0%
copper, 32.9% gold and 20.7% silver
- Esso Lens tailings stream leaching
achieved additional incremental recoveries of an estimated 2.7%
copper, 27.6% gold and 11.2% silver
- Approximate Life of Mine (LOM)
blend comprising 75% LOM feed from the Main Lens and 25% LOM feed
from the Esso Lens and combining flotation and tailings leach
recoveries yields 96.4% copper, 75.1% zinc, 70.4% gold and 82.9%
silver
3) Undertook extensive quantitative
mineralogical analyses by QEMSCAN and built a geo-metallurgical
model of the Main and Esso deposits. This resulted in a
comprehensive understanding of the distribution of copper and zinc
bearing minerals, along with other important minerals that has and
should continue to help improve the metallurgical performance at
the Kutcho project.
4) Initiated various trade-off studies centered
on mining methods, mining costs, tailings management facility
design and location, preliminary geotechnical parameters and stope
sizing. These studies are ongoing and will be the foundation for
completion of the upcoming Feasibility Study.
5) Submission and acceptance of the final
Project Description to the British Columbia Environmental
Assessment Office (BCEAO) and reception of a Section 11 Order that
defines the scope of the Environmental Assessment and the
Indigenous Nations that Kutcho and British Columbia will engage
with through the process. In further discussion with
Indigenous Nations, Kutcho has agreed for the project to be
reviewed under the new BC Environmental Assessment Act. With the
passing of Bill C-69 (Canadian Impact Assessment Act) and
associated threshold regulations, the Kutcho Project is not
required to undertake a federal environmental assessment.
6) Signed and maintain exploration agreements
with both Tahltan and Kaska (Dena) Nations as well as working
collaboratively as the project progresses.
7) Completed comprehensive baseline data
collection for meteorological, groundwater, and surface water
(quantities and quality).
About CSA
GlobalCSA Global, an ERM Group company, is an
international mining consultancy with headquarters in Perth and
offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Dublin, Horsham (UK), Johannesburg,
Jakarta, Brisbane, and the additional global network of ERM, which
is one of the world’s largest sustainability consultancies
operating in more than 40 countries and territories around the
world. CSA Global’s core expertise is in geology, mineral
resources, mining, geochemistry, geometallurgy and
hydrogeology/hydrology with additional close associates who bring
expertise in geotechnical engineering, metallurgy and process
engineering. Through ERM, CSA Global brings industry leading
experience and reputation in environmental and community studies
and all other aspects of ESG and sustainability. CSA Global has
undertaken many PEA to FS level studies globally and in 2019 was
the lead consultant for BMC Minerals’ Feasibility Study on the Kudz
ze Kayah polymetallic VMS project in the Yukon.
Qualified
PersonsRobert Sim, P.Geo. Consultant to
the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") has reviewed and approved the
contents of this news release related to the mineral resource
estimate. All samples were collected in accordance with industry
standards. Splits from the drill core samples were submitted to the
ALS sample preparation laboratory in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory,
Canada, and then transferred to ALS' laboratory in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada for fire assay and ICP analysis. Accuracy
of results is tested through the systematic inclusion of standards,
blanks and check assays. The mineral resource estimate referenced
in this press release was prepared in November 2018 by Robert Sim,
P.Geo., an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI
43-101.
Tom Shouldice, Chief Executive Officer of Base
Metallurgical Laboratories is a professional metallurgical engineer
with over 20 years of experience in mineral processing. His
relevant experience includes plant operations, project management,
engineering and all aspects of metallurgical testing. Tom
specializes in flotation and mineralogical interpretation in
relation to metallurgical response. Mr. Shouldice is a “Qualified
Person” as defined in National Instrument 43-101 “Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects” of the Canadian Securities
Administrators and has reviewed and approved metallurgical data
presented in this news release.
Kutcho's additional disclosure of a technical or
scientific nature in this press release has been reviewed and
approved by Mr. Rory Kutluoglu, B.Sc, P.Geo., who serves as a
Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument
43-101.
About Kutcho
Copper Corp.Kutcho Copper
Corp. is a Canadian resource development company focused on
expanding and developing the Kutcho high grade copper-zinc project
in northern British Columbia. Committed to social responsibility
and the highest environmental standards, the Company intends to
advance the Kutcho Project through feasibility and permitting to a
positive construction decision.
Vince SoracePresident & CEO, Kutcho Copper Corp.
For further information regarding Kutcho Copper
Corp., please email info@kutcho.ca or visit our website at
www.kutcho.ca.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
StatementsNeither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains certain statements
that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” with respect to the
Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical
facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words
“expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”,
“estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or
that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or
“should” occur. Although Kutcho Copper believes the expectations
expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of
future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and
actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to raise
sufficient capital to fund its obligations under its property
agreements going forward, to maintain its mineral tenures and
concessions in good standing, to explore and develop the Kutcho
project or its other projects, to repay its debt and for general
working capital purposes; changes in economic conditions or
financial markets; the inherent hazards associates with mineral
exploration and mining operations, future prices of copper and
other metals, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of
mineral resource and reserve estimates, the ability of the Company
to obtain the necessary permits and consents required to explore,
drill and develop the Kutcho project and if obtained, to obtain
such permits and consents in a timely fashion relative to the
Company’s plans and business objectives for the projects; the
general ability of the Company to monetize its mineral resources;
and changes in environmental and other laws or regulations that
could have an impact on the Company’s operations, compliance with
environmental laws and regulations, aboriginal title claims and
rights to consultation and accommodation, dependence on key
management personnel and general competition in the mining
industry. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable
beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the
date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the
Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking
statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or
opinions, or other factors, should change.
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