Canada's Minto Copper-Gold Mine Plans 2028 Restart with Initial Capital of C$186 Million

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 26, Selkirk Copper is advancing a restart plan for the Minto copper-gold mine in Yukon, Canada. The company's latest technical-economic study proposes initial capital expenditure of approximately C$186 million, with plans to utilize the existing underground workings, processing plant, tailings facilities, camp, and roads at the mine site to resume production. Minto has been on care and maintenance since production ceased in 2023, and Selkirk's current development work is focused on completing restart engineering design, financing, and permitting arrangements.

The existing Minto mine site has a built underground mining system and processing facilities. The restart plan proposes modifying the existing processing plant and resuming underground mining, while reactivating power supply, tailings, camp, and on-site auxiliary facilities. Because a substantial amount of infrastructure is already in place, project capital expenditure is mainly concentrated on underground rehabilitation, processing facility upgrades, the tailings system, and pre-production preparation, rather than rebuilding a complete greenfield mine system.

Selkirk plans to produce copper as the primary product, with gold and silver recovered as by-products. The company's current plan bases the mining schedule on existing ore bodies and underground resources, while continuing to expand the mine's resource base through drilling. The production scale, mine life, and annual copper output after restart still need to be determined in conjunction with subsequent engineering optimization and the final development plan.

The Minto mine previously had a long production history. The site's former operator, Minto Metals, ceased operations in 2023 and entered relevant bankruptcy proceedings, after which the project transitioned to care and maintenance. After Selkirk acquired the project, it took the existing mine facilities as the basis for restart and made shortening the rebuilding cycle an important condition of the development plan. At this stage, the project has not yet entered formal commercial production restart, and the C$186 million represents an estimate of restart capital requirements.

The next phase of the project includes advancing engineering design, supplementary drilling, completing relevant permits, and securing construction funding. Selkirk's proposed development path is to commence on-site restart work as soon as possible after completing financing and necessary approvals, and to use existing infrastructure to shorten the cycle from capital investment to resumed copper production.