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Australia

Endeavor Mine

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Australia

Endeavor Mine

Location: 39 km N from Cobar, New South Wales, Australia

Project Contacts:

Via Louth Road
P O Box 109
Cobar
New South Wales, Australia
2835

Contacts:

Additional Resources for Suppliers & Investors

Categories

Summary

Mine TypeUnderground
Study CompletedPrefeasibility
StageRestarting
Commodities
  • Silver
  • Zinc
  • Lead
Mining Method
  • Hydraulic mining
  • Longhole open stoping
  • Sub-level open stoping (SLOS)
  • Cut & Fill
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SnapshotThe Endeavor mine had operated continuously for 38 years before being placed on care and maintenance in 2020.

Polymetals acquired the Endeavor Mine in 2023 and is in process of restarting mining activities targeting silver, zinc and lead metal production and plans to mine of underground ore and re-treatment of Sector 1 tailings.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Polymetals Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
The mine was owned by Cobar Operations Pty Ltd (COPL), operated by Endeavor Operations Pty Ltd (EOPL), with housing infrastructure managed by Cobar Infrastructure Pty Ltd (CIPL). The three companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of CBH Resources Ltd (CBH). CBH is owned by Toho Zinc, a Japanese listed company.

Polymetals Resources Ltd, through its 100% owned subsidiary company Cobar Metals Pty Ltd, has entered into a legally binding arrangement to acquire 100% of the Endeavor mine and associated assets by acquiring COPL, EOPL and CIPL from CBH.

On August 1, 2024, acquisition of the Endeavor Mine was completed with the transfer of 100% of the shares held by CBH Resources Limited (vendor of the Endeavor Mine) and its subsidiary companies, Endeavor Operations Pty Ltd and Cobar Operations Pty Ltd to Polymetals Resources Ltd. wholly owned subsidiary Cobar Metals Pty Ltd.

Contractors

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SourceSource

Deposit type

  • Tailings
  • Vein / narrow vein

Summary:

Underground Resource
Mineralisation at the Endeavor deposit (initially known as the Elura) is hosted by fine grained turbidite sequence of the Cobar Basin and comprises multiple sub-vertical elliptical shaped pipe-like pods that occur within the axial plane of an anticline and are surrounded by an envelope of sulphide stringer mineralisation, in turn surrounded by an envelope of siderite alteration extending for tens of metres away from the sulphide mineralisation.

Around 150m below the base of the main mineralised pods/lodes, mineralisation is hosted within the western limb of a folded limestone unit, occurring in veins and fractures.

Recent reviews favour a syngenetic formation model of an original stratiform deposit that was later emplaced by tectonic force into a favourable structural site during deformation.

The zonation of mineralisation types has been categorised with abbreviations as follows:
o PO – massive pyrrhotite-pyrite-galena-sphalerite ore, with pyrrhotite predominant, forming the central core of all zones, typically averaging about 9% Zn and 6% Pb
o PY – massive pyrite-pyrrhotite-galena-sphalerite ore, with pyrite predominant, commonly surrounding the pyrrhotitic core or at the outer margin of massive mineralisation, again typically averaging about 9% Zn and 6% Pb.
o SIPO – siliceous pyrrhotite-pyrite-galena-sphalerite ore, with inclusions of silicified country rock and some quartz veining; pyrrhotite is the predominant sulphide; occurs at the margin of PO and PT mineralisation; typical ore grade averages around 12% combined Pb+Zn.
o SIPY – siliceous pyrite-pyrrhotite-galena-sphalerite ore, with inclusions of silicified country rock and some quartz veining; similar to SIPO but pyrite is the predominant sulphide.
o VEIN – lower grade mineralisation comprising a stockwork of quartz and sulphide veins within silicified siltstone, around the edges of mineralised pods.
o MINA – mineralised altered siltstone.
o SG – Supergene enriched zone at the top of the Main Lode.

Tailings Resource
Mineralised material in the tailings storage facility consists of clay to fine sand sized particles deposited in sub-horizontal layers from centrally located outflow sites. The particles contain remnant sulphides that were not captured during processing of the Endeavor Mine silver-zinc-lead ore.

The primary lead and zinc bearing minerals from all orebodies processed are galena (~13%wt) and sphalerite (~14%wt). Pyrite and pyrrhotite (~60 to 70%wt in total) are the main floatable gangue in the ore. Tetrahedrite is the major host of silver, apart from galena and chalcopyrite.

Dimensions
Underground Resource
The sub vertical high-grade pods occur in the axial plane of an anticline and progressively decrease in size towards the northwest. The Main Lode occurs at the southern end of mineralisation, extending from near-surface to approximately 1,000m depth, with lateral extents of between 50m and 120m. The Northern Lodes extend northwest from the Main Lode, generally occur only below a depth of 400 – 500m and have lateral extents typically between 30 – 50m.

The top of the limestone-hosted mineralisation occurs approximately 1,050m below the surface. The mineralised zone is broadly tabular in form and currently measures 300m long by 250m high with widths ranging between 10m and 30m, dipping around 70° towards the southwest.

Tailings Resource
The Resource estimate entails the bulk of Sector 1 of the CTD TSF, which measures approximately 550m by 850m and an average depth of 7m.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

Reported 2017 production and financial results include operations through May 2017 in accordance with the terms of the sale agreement.

Production 2018 includes attributable silver oz. from the Endeavor silver stream that were produced, shipped and provisionally invoiced during June and July 2017, where the Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. is entitled to the associated trade receivable amounts.
CommodityProductUnits2018201720162015LOM
Silver Payable metal koz 50210724862910,600
Zinc Payable metal t 260,000
Lead Payable metal t 90,000

Operational metrics

Metrics201720162015
Annual ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes milled  ....  Subscribe133,904 tons of ore219,430 tons of ore767,314 tons of ore
* According to 2024 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage2017
Total cash costs (sold) Silver USD 6.96 / oz  
Assumed price Lead USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Silver USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
UG mining costs ($/t milled) AUD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
UG OpEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M AUD 206.2
Refining and transportation $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M AUD 92.5
Total OpEx $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M AUD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

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Workforce

EmployeesTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2024
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required 2019
...... Subscription required 2018

Aerial view:

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