Hudbay said that its Copper World Complex will support the domestic copper supply in the US, through onshore production of copper cathode, which eliminates GHG and sulphur emissions
Hudbay files technical report for Copper World Complex. (Credit: Łukasz Klepaczewski from Pixabay)
Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals has filed a technical report that contains results of the preliminary economic assessment of its fully-owned Copper World Complex in Arizona, US.
The complex includes the recently discovered Copper World deposits and the Rosemont deposit.
As per the report, the two-phase mine plan has an after-tax net present value of $1,296m and generates an 18% internal rate of return at $3.50 per pound of copper.
The processing facilities are anticipated to have a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum during Phase I, and 125,000 tonnes during Phase II
In addition, the facilities have been designed to reduce the project’s carbon footprint to produce ‘Made in America’ copper, said the company.
Hudbay said that its Copper World Complex will support the US copper supply through onshore production of copper cathode, which eliminates GHG and sulphur emissions.
Phase I of the project will be developed as a standalone operation on private land and patented mining claims covering a mine life of 16 years.
It will have an average annual copper production of around 86,000 tonnes at cash costs and sustaining cash costs of $1.15 and $1.44 per pound of copper, respectively.
Phase I is expected to generate an after-tax net present value of $741m and an internal rate of return of 17%.
Under the Phase II project, the company will expand the mining activities onto federal land and increase the mine life to 44 years.
It will have an average annual copper production of nearly 101,000 tonnes at cash and sustaining cash costs of $1.11 and $1.42 per pound of copper, respectively.
Phase II comes with additional optionality and an after-tax net present value of $555m and an internal rate of return of 49%, said the company.
Hudbay stated: “The company is evaluating several opportunities to optimize the project, including potential processing and initial capital optimisations, the potential to expand Phase I beyond 16 years with additions to the company’s private land package for tailings and waste rock storage and the potential to accelerate Phase II if federal permits are received earlier than as outlined in the PEA.”