Vancouver-based Capstone Mining Corp.’s (TSX:CS) Kutcho project could produce more copper than originally thought and consume less power than expected.
The company, which operates the Minto copper mine in Yukon, released a revised preliminary economic assessment Tuesday that reported the mine could produce 35.5 million pounds of copper annually.
That is compared with an annual production estimation of 33.9 million pounds of copper released in the original assessment last year.
The proposed copper-zinc project is located in northwest B.C. not far from Dease Lake. The revised plan also includes less open-pit mining, which would reduce the project’s environmental footprint.
In addition, Capstone believes it could harness wind power or small project hydro to reduce its unit power costs to $0.12 per kilowatt-hour from $0.16.
President Stephen Quin said: “We have significantly reduced the environmental footprint of the project and now, with the improved power costs, recovery, grinding and production schedules, we have positioned the Kutcho project to be a competitive copper producer.”
It is estimated that the project would cost $134.2 million to build, and have a payback period of less than four years.