This base metal thing just keeps on going: (a little OT)
San Nicolas development under consideration - Mexico
Monday, February 2, 2004 18:6 (GMT-0400)
Project planners are mulling whether to start development on the San Nicolas massive sulfide deposit in Mexico's Zacatecas state because of the upward trend in metals prices, an investor relations official with Western Silver Corp told BNamericas.
Canada's Western Silver (TSX: WTC; Amex: WTZ) holds a 21% interest in the property. That could be modified from 18.8% to 29.8% once a production decision is made, according to corporate information.
Vancouver-based mining and metals company Teck Cominco (TSX: TEKa&b), Western's joint venture partner in San Nicolas, developed a project feasibility study in December 2001. The property is currently on a care-and-maintenance status.
"We're going to take another look at that [study] given current metals prices, and that's a fairly complicated procedure," the official said. "We're also going to look for ways to optimize the project economics, including looking at the feasibility of underground mining."
Western Silver declined to specify when a San Nicolas production decision would be made. "The important thing is we're reexamining: We're going back, plugging in the numbers based on new metals prices," the official said when pressed on a timeline.
Teck Cominco did not respond to a request for comment from BNamericas.
Teck's project feasibility study is based on conventional open-pit mining and includes estimated mineral reserves of 65.2Mt with average grades of 1.32% copper, 2.04% zinc, 0.53g/t gold and 32.1g/t silver.
Over its estimated 12-year life, the project is expected to produce roughly 950,000t zinc, 635,000t copper, 171,000oz gold and 18Moz silver. The production rate would average 15,000t/d.
By Randy Woods
AI
