Centerra tables Idaho molybdenum PFS
Centerra Gold Inc. [CG-TSX, CGAU-NYSE] has announced its strategic plan for each asset in the company’s portfolio, along with its approach to capital allocation.
“The plan identifies the opportunities at each asset that will drive future value and growth for the company,” said Centerra President and CEO Paul Tomory.
Centerra is a Canadian gold mining company with a focus on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring gold properties in North America, Turkey and other markets worldwide. Its portfolio includes the Mt. Milligan mine in British Columbia, which achieved record throughput in 2022 of 21.3 million tonnes.
Specifically at Mount Milligan, the company said it expects to see strong operational performance in the next five years and will work to optimize operations and maximize the value of the large deposit.
Centerra previously said it had extended the life of the open pit mining and milling operation by over four years to 2033. The announcement followed an increase in the mine’s proven and probable gold reserves to 2.9 million ounces from the previous 1.8- million-ounce estimate. Copper reserves have also increased to 996 million pounds from 736 million.
The Mount Milligan Mine deposit contains estimated reserves of 246.2 million tonnes at 0.37 g/t gold and 0.18% copper.
Meanwhile, the company said a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the Thompson Creek molybdenum mine in Idaho supports a disciplined path to restarting operations and realizing significant vertical integration synergies with its Langeloth Metallurgical Facility, which ranks among the largest molybdenum conversion plants in North America.
Thompson Creek is a primary surface molybdenum mine and mill located approximately 48 kilometres southwest of Challis in Idaho’s Cluster County. The mine and concentrator were placed on care and maintenance when the mining and processing of Phase 7 ore was completed.
Thompson Creek is part of a molybdenum business unit that also includes the Endako Mine in northern British Columbia and the Langeloth Metallurgical Facility near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Endako is also on care and maintenance.
The company said it has completed a prefeasibility study on the restart of mining at Thompson Creek. It said a restart at Thompson Creek, vertically integrated with operations at Langeloth, would result in a combined $373 million after-tax present value (5.0%).
The PFS includes an optimized mine plan with an 11-year lifespan, producing 134 million pounds of molybdenum, (95 million tonnes).
The PFS requires between $350-$400 million of pre-production capital spending, including optimized mine design. As previously disclosed, the company plans to spend up to $10 million this year on project studies, including project de-risking, geotechnical drilling, engineering and site works.
On Monday, Centerra shares eased 3.5% or 28 cents to $7.64. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $10.28 and $5.18.