Copper Mountain Mining Announces a 57% Increase in Copper Mineral Reserves at the Copper Mountain Mine and Updated Life of Mine Plan

Copper Mountain Mining Corporation is pleased to announce an updated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources estimate and revised life of mine plan for its 75% owned Copper Mountain Mine, located in southern British Columbia. The new life of mine plan, based only on Mineral Reserves, supports an updated mill expansion scenario to 65,000 tpd (“65ktpd Expansion”), producing a total of 4.1 billion pounds of copper equivalent⁽¹⁾ over a mine life of 32 years with robust economics including an after-tax net present value (“NPV”) at an 8% discount rate of $1.24 billion⁽¹⁾.

 

 

All metrics are on a 100% basis and all amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated.

• Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources (inclusive of Mineral Reserves) estimate of 1.1 billion tonnes increased by⁽²⁾:
• 70% to 5.5 billion pounds of copper at average grades of 0.22% Cu.
• 68% to 3.4 million ounces of gold at average grades of 0.09 g/t Au.
• 62% to 23.4 million ounces of silver at average grades of 0.64 g/t Ag.
• Proven and probable Mineral Reserves estimate of 702 million tonnes increased by⁽²⁾:
• 57% to 3.7 billion pounds of copper at average grades of 0.24% Cu.
• 54% to 2.3 million ounces of gold at average grades of 0.10 g/t Au.
• 49% to 16.0 million ounces of silver at average grades of 0.71 g/t Ag.
• Total mine life has been extended to 32 years with the 65ktpd Expansion commencing in 2028.
• Annual average production⁽³⁾ of 138 million pounds of copper equivalent (114 million pounds of copper, 54,000 ounces of gold and 367,000 ounces of silver).
• After-tax NPV (8%)⁽¹⁾ of $1.24 billion.
• All-in cost (“AIC”)⁽³⁾ of $1.76 per pound of copper, net of by-product credits.

“These results illustrate the size and scale of the Copper Mountain Mine,” stated Gil Clausen, Copper Mountain’s President and CEO. “Our large Mineral Reserves base underpins our updated 65ktpd Expansion study, which estimates total production of over 4.1 billion pounds of copper equivalent over a mine life that will extend beyond 30 years. Increasing plant capacity to 65ktpd requires only modest initial development capital, which is self funded with mine cash flow. In fact, not only is the Copper Mountain Mine able to fund capital required over the life of mine, but it is also expected to generate significant free cash flow beyond these requirements. In addition, higher-grade exploration upside remains, particularly at depth, providing further reserve expansion potential. With Mineral Reserves at the Copper Mountain Mine continuing to grow, the Company’s total Mineral Reserves estimate, including at the Eva Copper Project, is now at 5.4 billion pounds of copper and over 2.6 million ounces of gold. We have two large, scalable assets in two of the best mining jurisdictions in the world.”

The Executive Summary of the NI 43-101 technical report (the “2022 Technical Report”) for the new life of mine plan for the Copper Mountain Mine is available on the Copper Mountain website at www.CuMtn.com. The Company will file the full 2022 Technical Report on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) within the next seven days and such report will be available at that time on the Company’s website.

The 65ktpd Expansion includes a new primary crusher feed hopper, modifications to the primary gyratory crusher, the installation of a High-Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) circuit, the addition of a fourth ball mill, a regrind verti-mill, additional rougher and cleaner flotation circuit capacity, and electrical system upgrades. The existing SAG mill will be retired. The fourth ball mill, a 22 ft by 38 ft mill, will be installed adjacent to the third ball mill within the existing building. With the addition of the fourth ball mill, the ball milling line will comprise four mills operating in parallel: two identical 24 ft x 30 ft mills, and two identical 22 ft x 38 ft mills (see Appendix 2 for the proposed 65ktpd process flowsheet).  This work will allow for increased throughput with a slightly coarser grind size P₈₀ of 165 µm as compared to the current grind size of 150 µm.

The 65ktpd Expansion is a planned plant-wide improvement that increases throughput in addition to:

• Reducing operating costs using newer but proven technologies and equipment;
• Reducing energy consumption through more efficient grinding unit operations; and
• Improving flotation performance with substantially more capacity at the rougher and cleaner stages.

The mine plan is based only on Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves at the Copper Mountain Mine, and indicates a 32-year life of mine, which comprises 30 years of mining and milling followed by 2 years of processing the low-grade stockpiles. The plan indicates average copper equivalent production of 138 million pounds per annum for the first 20 years starting in 2023. The increased milling rate to 65,000 tonnes per day is planned to commence in 2028. The additional mining equipment required includes one additional shovel, 21 haul trucks and one additional drill for a total of five shovels, 49 220-t haul trucks and six blasthole drills. The 65ktpd Expansion also includes Trolley Assist on the East haul road.

Significant exploration potential remains at the Copper Mountain Mine with mineralization open both laterally and at depth. Multiple historical drillholes end in copper mineralization and geophysical data suggests the copper deposit extends below the current known resource. 

Total ore mined is expected to be 652 million tonnes and total waste mined is expected to be 1,356 million tonnes, with a strip ratio of 2.08:1. Using average recoveries of 87.9% for copper, 66.8% for gold and 68.2% for silver, total production is expected to be 4.1 billion pounds of copper equivalent composed of 3.4 billion pounds of copper, 1.6 million ounces of gold and 11.6 million ounces of silver. A summary of mining, processing and production metrics is provided below. A more detailed life of mine production schedule will be available in the 2022 Technical Report on SEDAR.

The initial capital cost required to increase throughput to 65,000 tonnes per day is estimated to be approximately $237 million. This includes the installation of the HPGR circuit, buildings, fourth ball mill, regrind circuit, verti-mill, additional rougher and cleaner flotation circuits, and electrical system upgrades. Other development capital requirements estimated at $223 million subsequently required over the remaining mine life, include additional mobile mining equipment, the East haul road Trolley Assist and water management related expenditures.

Total sustaining capital for the life of mine is estimated to be $828 million. With the 65ktpd Expansion’s significant increase in Mineral Reserves and mine life, an additional replacement cycle for the mining fleet has been factored into the sustaining capital estimate which contributes to most of the total estimate.

AIC per pound of copper produced is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Performance Measures” in this press release.

Total LOM operating unit costs are estimated to be $10.14 per tonne milled, which includes mining cost per tonne milled of $5.75, milling cost per tonne milled of $3.87 and G&A cost per tonne milled of $0.51. Mining cost per tonne mined is estimated to be $1.70.  A unit cost breakdown is provided below.

The above costs result in an average AIC per pound of copper of $1.76 for the first 20 years of mine life.

The after-tax NPV for the 65ktpd Expansion at the Copper Mountain Mine assuming an 8% discount rate is estimated to be $1.24 billion. The economics are calculated assuming a Canadian Dollar to U.S. Dollar exchange rate of 1.30 to 1 and long-term metal prices of $3.60 per pound copper, $1,650 per ounce of gold and $21.35 per ounce of silver. Metal price assumptions are based on consensus forecasts. A sensitivity analysis on varying copper prices was completed on the after-tax NPV (8%) and the results are summarized below.

A summary of the Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources estimates is provided below as of August 1, 2022. The Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves.

The information in this report that relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Patrick Redmond, Ph.D., P.Geo. Dr. Redmond is a full-time employee of the Company and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code. Dr. Redmond does consent to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears.

The Mineral Resources estimate for the Copper Mountain Mine was prepared by Patrick Redmond, Ph.D., P.Geo. who is the Senior Vice President, Exploration and Geoscience at Copper Mountain. Dr. Redmond serves as the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) for the Mineral Resources estimate at the Copper Mountain Mine. Dr. Redmond consents to the inclusion of the Mineral Resources estimate in this news release and has approved the Mineral Resources information included in this news release.

Mr. Alberto Chang, P.Eng., serves as the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 for information regarding the Copper Mountain Mine’s technical information and Mineral Reserves estimate. Mr. Chang is the Vice President, Mining of Copper Mountain and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

The qualified persons have verified the information disclosed herein, including the sampling, preparation, security and analytical procedures underlying such information, and are not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties that could be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in the information discussed herein.

Copper Mountain’s flagship asset is the 75% owned Copper Mountain Mine located in southern British Columbia near the town of Princeton. The Copper Mountain Mine currently produces approximately 90 million pounds of copper equivalent. Copper Mountain also has the development-stage Eva Copper Project in Queensland, Australia and an extensive 2,100 km² highly prospective land package in the Mount Isa area. Copper Mountain trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “CMMC” and Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol “C6C”.

Additional information is available on the Company’s web page at www.CuMtn.com.

On behalf of the Board of

COPPER MOUNTAIN MINING CORPORATION
“Gil Clausen” 

Gil Clausen, P.Eng.
President and Chief Executive Officer

Contact Information: