Oct 15 2014
Copper North Mining Corp. ("Copper North" or the "Company") announces that it has engaged JDS Energy and Mining Inc. ("JDS") and Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ("BGRIMM") to undertake a new feasibility study for the Carmacks Copper-Gold-Silver Project (the "Project" or "Carmacks Project") in Central Yukon.
Dr. Harlan Meade, President and CEO of Copper North stated, "I am very pleased to announce the engagement of these two engineering groups to complete the new feasibility study and manage the construction of the Carmacks Project as a very low cost copper-gold-silver producer".
JDS will be responsible for the completion of a NI 43-101 feasibility study for the development of the Project with responsibility for infrastructure, geotechnical, mining and earthworks alongside Copper North's other Independent Qualified Persons ("IQP"), and oversee the engineering and procurement by BGRIMM for inclusion in the new feasibility study. In conjunction with Copper North's management team and the other IQP's, BGRIMM will be responsible for all process design and equipment selection for the Project, including the procurement of equipment from China. The decision to undertake this joint approach to re-engineering the Project follows considerable investigation and benchmarking of the Project to other similar projects.
Copper North's discussions with both JDS and BGRIMM indicate that there is opportunity to significantly reduce capital and operating costs for the Project, following the recent evaluation of alternative development plans for the Project. Key aspects of the Project's re-engineering include recovery of copper using vat leaching and the addition of gold and silver recovery.
Metallurgical test work is progressing to confirm the optimal leach design and operating parameters for the leaching of copper followed by leaching of gold and silver. This work should be completed by year-end and establish the base for the new feasibility study which is targeted for completion in Q3 2015.
JDS is a BC based engineering and mine construction company, delivering high quality engineering, construction and procurement. Their familiarity with the construction of the nearby Minto copper-gold open pit mine is an added benefit in design and construction of the Carmacks Project. JDS has extensive experience in intermediate size metal mines in the Americas and has a history of working closely with mine developers using fit for purpose solutions to achieve reasonable engineering and construction costs.
BGRIMM is a premium engineering and research group based in Beijing, China. It is one of the largest research and design institutes in China with a Class A rating for mining, metallurgy, engineering technology in the non-ferrous metals industry. BGRIMM has a 58 year history of research and metallurgical design with more than 700 engineers and more than 400 mines, metallurgical and smelter projects completed globally. In Copper North's benchmarking of projects similar to the Carmacks Project, the Company was attracted by its recently completed feasibility study and construction of the Kounrad dump leach copper SXEW project in Kazakhstan.
About Copper North
The Company is focused on the exploration and development of copper deposits. Its core asset is the Carmacks Project in the Yukon which the Company is progressing toward a new feasibility study that will incorporate the re-engineering of the project during the past several months. The Thor property is an exploration stage project that covers a large area (approximately 13,000 hectares) in north central British Columbia.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Harlan D. Meade, President, CEO, and Director
Source: http://www.coppernorthmining.com/