Mineralization of the Project is part of the volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), or volcanic-hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) spectrum of deposits. The Kutcho deposits are VMS deposits of the Kuroko type or felsic volcaniclastic depending upon the classification scheme. Mineralization is related to felsic volcanism in island arc or back-arc tectonic settings. Perhaps the most significant feature of VMS deposits from an exploration perspective is their tendency to occur in clusters. The Property contains three known Kuroko-type volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. They are aligned in a westerly plunging linear trend and from east to west they are called the Main, Sumac, and Esso deposits.

Mineralization occurs as three deposits along a 3.5 km trend. Sulphide minerals occur in a series of massive sulphide lenses and include pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, bornite, minor chalcocite, and trace tennantite, galena, digenite, djurleite, and idaite. Gangue minerals include quartz, dolomite, ankerite, sericite, gypsum, and anhydrite.

The three deposits form a westerly plunging linear trend, termed the Main, Sumac, and Esso deposits from east to west. The Main deposit comes to surface at its eastern end, whereas the Esso deposit occurs at depths about 400 m below surface,

Main Deposit
The Main deposit has an elliptical, lenticular shape with approximate dimensions of 1,600 m long, 500 m wide (down-dip), and approaching 40 m in true thick ........

Open pit mining is expected to be by conventional front-end loader and truck whereas underground mining will be done using longitudinal long-hole open stoping (LLHOS) methods.

Open pit mining of the Main deposit is expected to commence during the construction period and ramp up over a two-year period before reaching an estimated average steady production rate of 1.8 Mtpa of ore at the end of Year 1. The open pit has an estimated eight-year life with a total of 14.5 Mt of ore mined at an average strip ratio of 5.6:1. The open pit is mined in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. Direct processing of higher-grade ore and stockpiling of lower-grade ore (for processing at the end of the mine life) is a significant component of the mine plan. Phase 1 waste is used in construction of the TMF embankment and excess is placed into a waste rock dump (WRD) alongside the pit. The WRD will separately store PAG (Potentially acid generating) and nPAG (not potentially acid generating) material. Once Phase 1 of the open pit mine is complete, Phase 2 PAG waste is backfilled directly into the void and excess is placed on WRD (mostly nPAG). A significant portion of the WRD (all the PAG rock component) rehandled into the Phase 2 void at the end of open pit mining operations. Including pre-production and ore/waste rehandling periods, the open pit life is 12.5 years.

The open pit mining equipment is planned to move up to 40,000tpd. The truck fleet comprises up to eight 90-tonne cla ........

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Process Design Criteria
Conceptual design criteria for major equipment of the 4,500 tpd crushing and ore sorting circuits, and the 3,940 tpd grinding and flotation circuits.

Process Description
A 4,500 tpd crushing plant for the Project to process the volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization is proposed. The crushing plant will operate at 70% availability. The process plant is assumed to operate 365 days per year at 92% availability at a rate of 3,940 tpd after the ore sorting circuit. The plant feed will be crushed, sorted to remove low grade material, ground and then sequentially subjected to copper and zinc flotation. The metals contributing to revenue in the produced concentrates are copper, zinc, gold, and silver. The zinc tailings will be pumped to the TMF for disposal. The copper and zinc concentrates will be thickened and dewatered before loading onto semi trailer trucks. Precious metals will be contained in and shipped with the copper and zinc co ........