Canada's Minto Copper Mine Plans to Increase Ore Processing Capacity to 4,900 Tonnes per Day

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 9, Canadian mining company Selkirk Copper Mines is advancing a feasibility study for the restart of the Minto copper-gold-silver mine in Yukon, planning to increase mining and ore processing capacity from 4,100 tonnes per day to 4,500–4,900 tonnes per day, an increase of approximately 10%–20%, and striving to improve copper recovery by 3–4 percentage points. The company plans to complete the feasibility study by mid-2027, with a target of resuming production in the second half of 2028.

The preliminary economic assessment completed in September adopted a mining and processing scale of 4,100 tonnes per day, with a planned mine life of 13 years and a maximum annual copper-equivalent metal production of approximately 27,200 tonnes in concentrate. The company intends to increase this production target to approximately 30,000 tonnes in subsequent studies, and to adjust the open-pit and underground mining plans and optimize the existing concentrator process. The concentrator is equipped with three-stage crushing, semi-autogenous grinding and ball milling, gravity separation and flotation systems, with a designed equipment availability of 92%.

The copper, gold and silver recoveries adopted in the preliminary economic assessment were 89%, 85% and 77%, respectively. Selkirk Copper is increasing the frequency of soluble copper analysis, conducting staged leach tests, and preparing 5 composite samples for the ore bodies planned to be mined in the first five years after restart. The relevant metallurgical test results are expected to be completed in the fall of 2026 and incorporated into the metal recovery model for the next-phase feasibility study.

As of October 1, approximately 53,000 meters of Phase 2 drilling had been completed at the Minto copper mine, exceeding the original plan of 50,000 meters. Drilling results from the No. 202 mineralized lens at Minto North announced on September 29 showed that a 5.4-meter mineralized interval had a copper grade of 9.27%, a gold grade of 7.43 g/t, and a silver grade of 54.9 g/t, with a copper-equivalent grade of 15.11%. The company plans to update the mineral resource estimate in the first quarter of 2027 and adjust the subsequent mine plan based on the drilling results.

Selkirk Copper plans to keep the initial capital expenditure for the project restart at approximately C$200 million, with a C1 copper cash cost target of US$1.50–1.60 per pound. The previous preliminary economic assessment estimated initial capital expenditure at approximately C$186 million, including approximately C$22.6 million in contingency. The company expects to invest an additional C$20 million to C$25 million before the formal restart investment decision for engineering studies and restart preparation work.