PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A prefeasibility study (PFS) into ASX-listed Azure Minerals Promontorio copper/gold/silver project, in Mexico, has demonstrated the technical and economic viability of the project.
The PFS found that from the current mining inventory of 656 000 t, the Promontorio project could support a 150 000 t/y mining and processing operation, with a life-of-mine of some four-and-a-half years.
A total capital expenditure of $41.2-million would be required to fund Promontorio.
The project could generate a gross revenue of $194-million, at cash costs of $1.16/lb copper. Over the life-of-mine, Promontorio could produce 19 400 t of copper, 14 900 oz of gold and 1.2-million ounces of silver.
Azure said on Wednesday that the upside case assumed future exploration success sufficient to double the existing resource and realise a mining inventory of some 1.3-million tons, at the same metal grades and recoveries.
An operation based on the upside scenario could return gross revenue of $395-million and free cash of $155-million.
The explorer has now defined an exploration target of between one-million and two-million tons, at grades of between 4% and 5% copper, between 1.5 g/t and 2.5 g/t gold and between 80 g/t and 120 g/t silver.
Azure said in a statement that it would restart drilling at Promontoria as soon as practicable, to increase the projects resource.
