Western Copper Corporation June 24 said its Casino copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in central Yukon Territory has the potential to be developed economically as a sizable open-pit mine. An independent pre-feasibility study estimates an initial capital cost of $2.1 billion for the project, which would produce 3.6 billion pounds of copper, 320 million pounds of molybdenum and 5.1 million ounces of gold over a 30-year mine life.
The Casino deposit was discovered in 1969 by a Teck Cominco predecessor company, based on earlier exploration by A. Archer of Archer Cathro.
It is considered unique among Canadian porphyry deposits, with a substantially preserved oxide gold leach cap, a well-developed supergene, or near-surface, copper-enriched zone and a hypogene, or deeper, copper-gold zone.
Geologically, it is similar to the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, but about one-tenth of Pebble’s size, according to Yukon officials.
Casino also is believed to be the largest gold deposit in the Yukon, according to Mike Burke, head of mineral services at Yukon Geological Survey. Casino’s discovery actually sparked the exploration that led to subsequent discoveries of the Minto and Carmacks Copper deposits as well as others in the 1970s, he said.
Chairman and CEO Dale Corman said Western Copper will immediately begin permitting the Casino Project with the help of Gartner Lee, an international environmental consulting firm.
“Over the last two years, Western Copper has worked closely with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board and Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources in permitting our Carmacks project, and has found them to be fair and professional. We look forward to working with them again on the Casino Project,” Corman said.
Western Copper hopes to secure initial permits for construction by 2012, and begin production of gold Dore from the heap leach in mid-2013 and production of concentrate from a sulfide mill in late 2015.
This will give us cash flow from the project before we complete the mine,” said Jonathan Clegg, P. Eng., vice president of engineering for Western Copper.
