The Halfmile and Stratmat projectss are volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits typical of the Bathurst Mining Camp (BMC). The BMC hosts 45 volcanic-sediment hosted massive sulphide deposits and 95 occurrences, including the world-class Brunswick 12 Mine. BMC deposits formed in a sediment-covered back-arc continental rift during periods when the basin was stratified with a lower anoxic water column. The basin was subsequently intensely deformed and metamorphosed during multiple collisional events related to east-dipping subduction of the basin.

The VMS deposits typically form lenses of polymetallic massive sulphide. Most deposits are zoned vertically and laterally from a high temperature, vent-proximal, copper-polonium bismuth-rich veined and brecciated core to vent-distal zinc-lead-silver-rich hydrothermal sediments. The vent complex is commonly underlain by a highly deformed sulphide stringer zone that extends hundreds of metres beneath deposits and consists of veins and impregnations of sulphides, silicates, and carbonates that cut chloritized and sericitized volcanic and sedimentary rocks.

The Halfmile project is underlain predominantly felsic volcanic rocks and lesser sedimentary rocks which are host to all massive sulphide deposits on the property. Provincial Government regional
mapping projects have classified the rocks as belonging to the Flat Landing Brook formation of the Middle Ordovician Tetagouche group and Nepisiguit Falls formation.

At Halfmile, the Flat Landing Brook formation consist mainly of rhyolite flows, quartz-feldspar porphyry and mafic volcanic rocks. The Nepisiguit Falls formation includes the massive sulphide mineralization, quartz-feldspar porphyry and clastic sedimentary rocks.

The stratigraphy for Halfmile is overturned. A stockwork of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite mineralization occurs on top of the massive sulphides. Well-developed S1 foliation/cleavage is easily observed in most drill core samples. In general, the enveloping surface for this cleavage is oriented northeast with a dip of 40 to 60° to the northwest. An S2 crenulation cleavage accompanied by small parasitic kink folds is oriented at a high angle to the S1 foliation in the nose of folds.

Detailed interpretations are difficult to assess due to poor documentation in old holes and difficulty in assessing structure from drill data. Faulting is poorly documented in pre-1970 drilling. However, later interpretation suggests the influence that faults have on the sulphide horizon. A single thrust fault is readily observed immediately above or within the sulphide horizon. This fault occurs in about the same stratigraphic position on all of the Halfmile project. Local small-scale sheath folds may increase the thickness and grade within the hinge of the Lower Zone.

At Halfmile, all run-of-mine (RoM) material will be mined by underground mining method. Sublevel open stoping (SLOS) and Sublevel Retreat (SLR) will be the main mining methods planned, supplemented by post pillar cut and fill (PPCF) and mechanized cut and fill (MCF) mining for Upper zone where mineralization dip angle is approximately at 39 degrees. All mining methods will employ either cemented or unconsolidated waste rock as backfill. The mine plan includes 92% of RoM tonnes from SLOS/SLR with down holes (up holes for sill pillar recovery) on 20 m sublevels and cemented or unconsolidated waste rock fill, and 8% of RoM tonnes from PPCF/MCF with unconsolidated waste rock and cemented waste rock (sill level stopes only). There is no permanent sill or rib pillar considered for the SLOS/SLR mining. Limited sill pillars were planned only for the two trial mining opened mining fronts.

Access to the underground mine will be by an existing portal and ramp system developed previously to a depth of 170 m below surface. The ramp will be extended down to the mine bottom approximately 1,020 m below surface at a maximum gradient of -15% with dimensions of 5.0 m width by 5.0 m height, the same as the existing ramp.

Stope sequencing will generally be top-down block by block, and bottom-up within the mining block. On a mining level scale, both transverse primary-secondary stope sequence and longitudinal retreat mining will be employed, dependent on mineralization thickness. In the first year, RoM material will be sent to Caribou mill. From the second year onwards, RoM materials will be hauled by 45- tonne capacity trucks to surface then transported to Stratmat dense media separation (DMS) plant by surface trucks, where approximately 22% of RoM will be separated as waste for backfill and 78% of RoM as plant feed. Waste rock broken underground will be hauled by 30-tonne capacity ejector type trucks to empty stopes as backfill, or to surface temporary waste stockpile.

Backfill will be first sourced from development waste, shortage will be supplemented by back trucked Stratmat DMS separated waste.

Ventilation capacity is planned at 385 cubic metres per second (cms) or 815,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) to support a maximum production rate of 2,800 tonnes per day (t/d), providing an estimated 18% contingency. Intake will be through an existing fresh air raise (FAR) which will be extended and supplemented by a larger raisebored FAR system. Exhaust will be through the main ramp and a planned return air raise (RAR) system that will also be raisebored.

Underground main sumps and pump stations will be spaced approximately 100 m vertical at the starting level of a mining front/block, staged pump to upper level main sumps and eventually to surface.

Due to the complex geometry and variability in strike and dip, the development of a tool box of mining methods is recommended in order to maximize extraction of the Halfmile project.

Post Pillar Cut and Fill:
The Upper zone will mainly be extracted using the post pillar cut and fill (PPCF) method, utilized in 2012 for the trial mining. This will be supplemented by mechanized cut and fill method in narrower sections. Levels are nominally on a 30-metre vertical spacing with each level accessing up to five 5-metre high cuts. Backfill in this area will be largely unconsolidated RF, though use of CRF has been proposed for the initial lift of each mining front to allow for sill pillar recovery and to provide better working floors. The two sill pillars established in 2012 will not be recoverable.

Most lifts are designed with 5 m high x 8 m wide rooms with 13 x 5 m barrier pillars either side of the access drift and 6 x 5 m standard pillars.

The introduction of cemented backfill for the Lower and Deep zones presents several opportunities in the Upper zone that are not currently reflected in the mine plan. By filling the initial cut of each stoping block with a good quality cemented backfill, an additional 50–100 kt of mineralized materials could potentially be recovered from the 7 m thick sill pillars. Further geotechnical investigations and modelling would be required.

Mechanized Cut and Fill:
Mechanized cut and fill (MCF) stopes above 5320L are extensions of the PPCF stopes where the Upper zone is less than 10 m horizontal width. One small area of the Lower zone on the 5180L was also designed as MCF.

Transverse and Longitudinal Retreat Longhole:
The Lower and Deep zones will tend to use transverse sublevel longhole open stope mining method and longitudinal sublevel retreat longhole open stope mining method when the mineralization width is less than 10–15 m. A sub-level spacing of 20 m has been selected for these zones. Backfill for the transverse stopes would be CRF for primary stopes and CRF and/or RF for secondary stopes. Backfill for the longitudinal retreat stopes would be a mix of CRF with RF.

A modified Avoca method, could also be utilized in some areas of the Lower and Deep zones, instead of the more typical SLR. Modified Avoca is an alternative of longitudinal retreat mining method.

The RoM production will initially be subjected to primary and secondary crushing at the Stratmat mine site to reduce the rock size to a suitable feed for a dense media separation plant (DMS). This operation will reject barren material from the +3 mm size from the mill feed effectively increasing the mill head grade and reducing the overall operating costs of the concentrator. A Barely Autogenous Grinding (BAG) mill will be used for primary grinding followed by a conventional ball mill for secondary grinding to liberate the minerals to allow flotation to concentrate the metals to saleable concentrates.

Primary crushing, secondary crushing and screening will be contracted out. The crushed product will be fed to a covered stockpile with a live content of 4,000 tonnes and the DMS plant will be fed using two apron feeders in a tunnel under the stockpile at 175 tonnes per hour. The dense media process is expected to reject 22% of the mass of RoM material in a reject which will be suitable for producing backfill with the addition of the required amount of cement. As only the +3 mm fraction of the RoM material can be upgraded, the -3 mm fraction will be screened out on a wet screen, thickened and the thickener underflow pumped to the ball mill discharge pump box or to a lagoon if the DMS plant is operating and the main plant is down. DMS upgraded material will be conveyed to a second stockpile with a live content of 3,000 tonnes.

Design feed tonnage to the grinding circuit is 145 tonnes per hour. The BAG mill will operate in closed circuit with a vibrating screen recycling the +5 mm fraction back to the BAG mill. Screen undersize will flow to a secondary ball mill which will operate in closed circuit with 15-inch diameter cyclones and will grind the material to a P80 of 72 microns.

The upgraded mineralization stockpile will be an insulated structure with 3,000 tonnes of live capacity to allow for operation of the mill during maintenance of the DMS plant or vice versa. A dump point will allow crushed mineralization to be added to this stockpile to completely decouple the operation of the mill from the DMS plant

Primary grinding will be in a BAG mill with a 950 kW motor. A BAG mill is required as the -65 mm maximum size of the mineralization means that there will be no lumps that are large enough to act as media for a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill. A ball mill will not be used because a higher aspect ratio mill is required to ensure that the balls have sufficient energy to break the largest particles at a size that will also provide highly efficient grinding. A double-deck vibrating screen in closed circuit with the BAG mill is included with a designed opening of 5 mm on the lower screen.

Sodium carbonate (soda ash) for pH control and depressants (sodium cyanide and zinc sulfate) will be added to the BAG mill feed to ensure that depression of sphalerite and pyrite occurs as soon as the surfaces are exposed.

A conventional ball mill with a 2 MW motor in closed circuit with a cyclopac having eight 12-inch cyclones will take the BAG mill screen undersize at a P80 in the order of 750 microns and reduce it to the size noted above (P80 of 72 microns) for flotation feed.

Regrinding of the lead/copper rougher and scavenger concentrates and the lead/copper first cleaner scavenger concentrate will be in a M4 (1MW) Isamill.

The zinc regrind mill will be an M4 (1MW) Isamill operated in closed circuit with a cyclopac having 10 five-inch diameter cyclones.

The PEA is based on the construction of a new concentrator at the Stratmat site to process both the Stratmat mineralization and the Halfmile mineralization which will be trucked to the Stratmat site. The new concentrator will have a capacity of 3,000 t/d and employ conventional differential flotation technology to produce three saleable metal concentrates of zinc, lead, and copper. For both the metallurgical performance and the operating costs of a new concentrator, reference has been made to the current operations of Trevali at the nearby Caribou Mine.

The DMS plant will be located immediately adjacent and integrated to the primary grinding bay of the concentrator. The RoM material will be crushed and then conveyed to a stockpile with a live capacity of 4,000 tonnes. The stockpile will be covered with walls on three sides. The one open side will make the stockpile accessible to a dozer which will be used to increase the live capacity in freezing conditions. The crushed mate ........