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Canada
North Island Project

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 Location:
20 km SW from Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada

  Project Contacts:
Suite 1200 – 1166 Alberni Street
Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada
V63 3Z3
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax1-604-669-2926
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Overview

StagePermitting
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Molybdenum
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Dewatering
  • Flotation
Mine Life22 years (as of Jan 1, 2021)
Northisle recently completed an update preliminary economic assessment for the North Island Project and is now focused on the advancement of the project through a pre feasibility study. The Company has commenced key critical path work activities amounting to approximately $1 million which support the immediate advancement of the North Island Project pre-feasibility study and permitting activities.
Latest NewsNorthisle Intersects 0.81% Cu Eq. Over 63m and 0.67% Cu Eq. Over 147m at Hushamu; Gold-Rich Zone at Northwest Expo Extended     May 31, 2022


Owners

Source: p. 16
CompanyInterestOwnership
NorthIsle Copper & Gold Inc. 100 % Indirect
The North Island Project is a 33,447-hectare contiguous block of 212 mixed legacy and cell mineral claims 100% owned by North Island Mining Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of NorthIsle Copper and Gold Inc.

Deposit Type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Porphyry


Summary:

The Hushamu and Red Dog Deposits host porphyry copper-gold mineralization similar in grade, and in the case of Hushamu size, to the past producing Island Copper Mine located approximately 30 km to the east. Over the life of the operation, Island Copper produced 345 million metric tonnes of ore with average grades of 0.41% copper, 0.017% molybdenum, 0.19 g/t gold and 1.4 g/t silver (Perelló et al., 1995).

Mineralization identified at Hushamu and Red Dog is best characterized as calcalkalic porphyry deposit type. Calcalkalic porphyry deposits commonly form in sub-circular zones of brecciated and hydrothermally altered rock in and around the apex of a quartz diorite to quartz monzonite stock. The style of mineralization is largely dependent on depth of formation. Deposits developed in relatively high-level, subvolcanic environments are commonly associated with multiple dyke and breccia phases. However, deposits formed at greater depth are more often associated with broad zones of faulting in plutonic rocks (Pantelyev, 1995). The deposits form as concentrations of quartz, quartzsulphide and sulphide veinlets and stockworks and as sulphide disseminations in broad potassic and phyllic alteration zones. They are commonly surrounded by a halo of propylitic alteration. The principal economic minerals are chalcopyrite, molybdenite, lesser bornite and trace gold or electrum. Pyrite is an important constituent, particularly in the propylitic alteration zone.

Five major lithologic units are noted on the Hushamu property; massive andesite, diorite, quartz-feldspar porphyry, hydrothermal breccia, and late breccia. The massive andesite can be further broken down into an amygdaloidal unit, a feldspar-phyric unit and a tuffaceous unit and is the host rock to most of the porphyry alteration and mineralization (Halle and Halle, 2012).

The quartz-feldspar porphyry sub-volcanic occurs as dikes and irregular bodies at the southern edge of the northwest-trending diorite stocks, and can be traced northwest along the Hushamu valley, where they are truncated by the West Fault. They are characterized by coarse, subhedral quartz and feldspar phenocrysts set in a very finegrained matrix, often with diorite and/or andesite inclusions. The unit is weakly altered, pyritized, and locally mineralized. This unit was historically believed to be co-magmatic with Bonanza Group volcanics and thus responsible for Cu-Au-Mo mineralization (Nixon, 2006). Halle and Halle (2012) did not find evidence to support this assertion during re-logging of Hushamu core.

The Bonanza Volcanic rocks in the deposit area have undergone intense hydrothermal fluid brecciation that has completely altered and/or obliterated the original rock textures. The resultant hydrothermal breccia was cross-cut by later, vertically oriented, decimetre-scale phreato-magmatic intrusive breccia bodies. The resultant silica-clay alteration assemblages from both events are observed in drill core to overprint earlier chlorite-magnetite alteration. The juxtaposition of this advanced argillic alteration phase onto an earlier chloritic phase can be explained by a “telescoping model” suggested by Perello (1992), occurring during uplift and erosion of active hydrothermal systems. The most extreme and texturally destructive variety of this alteration/lithology appears to dip shallowly to the northeast.

The oldest rocks exposed on the Red Dog property are the lower Jurassic age Bonanza Group. These rocks underlie most of the southern portion of the property and prior to alteration were dominantly of andesitic to basaltic andesitic composition. Most of the volcanic rocks are auto brecciated flows, tuff-breccia and much lesser fine tuffs and very fine-grained sills. Due to later alteration and the general monotonous makeup of the Bonanza Group rocks, subdivision of the volcanic package is problematic and conclusive bedding attitudes are difficult to distinguish at the scale of current property mapping. Based on mapping by Nixon et al. (2006) the Bonanza Group rocks in the area of Red Dog dip gently to the southwest.

The Red Dog intrusive is invariably porphyritic ranging from crowded (>50% phenocrysts) to sparse porphyritic texture (<25% phenocrysts) depending on the distance from its contact with the Bonanza Group rocks and dyke thickness. Where little altered, it consists of tabular phenocrysts of plagioclase to 4 mm, lesser fine-grained hornblende and rounded quartz phenocrysts in a fine grained felted matrix of the same minerals. The rock contains less than 10% potassium feldspar and best fits the tonalite composition. The contact of the main Red Dog Intrusion with the Bonanza Group is near vertical in the eastern part of the property; however, west of the prominent gully separating the main part of Red Dog Mountain and Red Dog Knoll, the contact is a southwest dipping fault based on drill results reported by J.B. Richards (1991) and the 2016 drilling.

The second intrusion is referred to as the Rose Porphyry, named for its distinctive pale greyish pink colour. It is characterized by its coarse porphyritic texture of rounded quartz eyes and medium to coarse grained feldspar in a felsic groundmass of the same minerals. Any original mafic minerals are altered to sericite and chlorite. Quartz vein stockworks are developed throughout and the rock is well to moderately mineralized with magnetite, chalcopyrite, pyrite and lesser molybdenite. It has been observed in contact with the Quartz Magnetite Breccia with contacts often brecciated and obscured by intense silicification. The relationship between the Rose Porphyry and the Red Dog Intrusions is unclear and requires further study. The Rose Porphyry may represent a phase of the Red Dog intrusions that is intermediate in age between the main stock and the younger Red Dog Porphyry dykes or be related to another intrusion not present within the near surface of the deposit.

A third intrusion occurs in the southeastern part of the property. The rock is given the generic name Feldspar Porphyry as it is ubiquitously altered and occurs as a white to pale grey coloured rock comprised of tabular, 2 to 3 mm plagioclase phenocrysts in a fine grained felsic ground mass. The mafic minerals, which form both 1-2 mm phenocrysts and part of the groundmass are completely altered to chlorite. Fine grained disseminated pyrite forms about 3% and is often oxidized to limonite. Quartz forms about 5% of the rock and is confined to the matrix. Based on the low potassium feldspar content, the rock is classified as a diorite porphyry.

The fourth intrusion is in the western part of the property on the flank of Red Dog Mountain. It forms a small stock-like body that may extend to the southeast under the hill based on reported historical drill results by J.B. Richards (1990, 1991). The intrusion is a medium grained hypidiomorphic granular textured quartz monzonite. It is the least altered of the intrusions and appears to postdate the mineralization. It has characteristic pink colour due to hematization of the potassium feldspar. The contact between the quartz monzonite and the Red Dog Intrusion is covered by Quaternary Sedimentary rocks and thus the relationship between the two intrusions is unclear. It may be that the fault identified in historical drilling separating the Bonanza Group from the Red Dog Intrusion also separates the quartz monzonite from the Red Dog Intrusion.

The fifth and youngest of the youngest intrusions are the basalt dykes that for the most part trend westerly and are near vertical to steeply dipping both to the north and south. They are rarely more than three metres thick. The basalt dykes, which are very fine grained and dark grey to black in colour, are of uncertain age, but cut all rock types. They are not common, and are volumetrically unimportant at Red Dog.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The mine plan was developed to mine Red Dog concurrently with Hushamu in the early years of the mine life until Red Dog Resources were depleted. The assumed processing rate is 75,000 t/d. The overall mining rate peaks at 64 million t/a in the initial years, averaging 54 million t/a over the first 12 years of the total mine life of 22 years.

The Hushamu and Red Dog open pits will be conventional truck and shovel operations utilizing 220 tonne class trucks and electric hydraulic front shovels and rotary drills. The bench height at Hushama will be 15 m and at Red Dog it will be 10 m. Road allowances have been made to 34 m width. Single benching has been applied at Hushamu and double benching has been applied at Red Dog. Geotechnical berms of 20 m width have been located on the high wall at Hushamu. Primary crushers will be located adjacent to each pit. Ore will be conveyed to the plant site at Hushamu.

The crest of the pit is at 645 m elevation and the pit bottom is -20 m elevation. The overall high wall slope is 42 degrees. The overall final pit dimensions are 2,300 m in length by 1,275 m in width.

The pit design bottom is at 240 m elevation and the pit crest is at 440 m elevation. Overall dimensions are 780 m length by 470 m width. Access to the pit will be from the east where the primary crusher will be located. This pit will be developed in a single phase.

The Hushamu open pit will be developed in 4 phases. A haulage road will remain in the high wall to access the subsequent development phase to the south.

This expansion is radial about the Starter Pit expanding the pit in all directions and to depth. This pit phase reaches the final wall on the north leaving an access road allowance of 40 m width.

Waste rock will be placed in construction and storage within the Mine Waste Storage Facility (MWSF). A low-grade stockpile will be located at the pit rim on the northwest side of Hushamu. An overburden stockpile will be located adjacent to the low-grade stockpile for use in reclamation of the MWSF at the end of the mine life.


Crushing and Grinding
Flow Sheet: Source
Crusher / Mill TypeModelSizePowerQuantity
Gyratory crusher 750 kW 1
Pebble crusher 2
SAG mill 22500 kW 1
Ball mill 20000 kW 2
Regrind 5000 kW 2

Summary:

The following items summarize the process operations required to extract copper, gold and molybdenum from the NorthIsle mineralized material:

- Reducing the size of the ore from Run-of-Mine (ROM) to minus 200 mm using a primary gyratory crusher.

- Stockpiling primary crushed ore from both the Hushamu and Red Dog deposits and then reclaiming it with feeders and conveyor belts.

- Grinding of the ore in a semi-autogenous (SAG) mill - ball mill circuit prior to processing in a flotation circuit. The SAG mill will operate in closed circuit with a trommel screen and pebble crushers (SABC circuit). The ball mills will operate in closed circuit with hydrocyclones to deliver a product size of 100 microns to the flotation circuit.


Processing

  • Dewatering
  • Flotation

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The North Island Copper and Gold Project (the “Project”) will consist of an open pit mine, mineralized material processing facility, and miscellaneous infrastructure and support facilities. The Project is located approximately 27 km west of Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada, along the north shore of Holberg Inlet in Northern Vancouver Island. Copper, gold and molybdenum mineralized material will be mined.

The Project mineralized material facility will produce copper/gold and molybdenum concentrates. The nominal capacity of the mineralized material processing facility is 75,000 dry metric tonnes per day (dmtpd) or 27,375,000 dry metric tonnes per year (dmtpy). The plant capacity will fluctuate according to the hardness of the mineralized material type being milled, up to a maximum of 84,000 tonnes per day (t/d) when soft mineralized material is being milled.

Sufficient mineralized material is available for approximately 22 years at this production rate. ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameterAvg. LOM
Copper Recovery Rate, % 86.4
Copper Head Grade, % 0.18
Copper Concentrate Grade, % 25
Gold Recovery Rate, % 46.8
Gold Head Grade, g/t 0.24
Molybdenum Recovery Rate, % 59.5
Molybdenum Head Grade, % 0.008
Molybdenum Concentrate Grade, % 50

Projected Production:

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Copper Concentrate kt 3,826
Copper Payable metal M lbs 2,035
Copper Metal in copper conc. M lbs 962,109
Gold Payable metal koz  ......  Subscription required
Gold Metal in copper conc. koz  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Molybdenum Concentrate kt  ......  Subscription required
Molybdenum Payable metal M lbs  ......  Subscription required
Molybdenum Metal in concentrate M lbs  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio  ......  Subscription required
Daily ore mining rate  ......  Subscription required
Waste tonnes, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Daily processing capacity  ......  Subscription required
Tonnes processed, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Annual processing capacity  ......  Subscription required
Annual mining rate  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2021 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at February 4, 2021:
Resource Estimate at a 0.10% Cu Cut-off

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Indicated 527,344 kt Copper 0.2 % 2.35 B lbs
Indicated 527,344 kt Gold 0.24 g/t 4.04 M oz
Indicated 527,344 kt Molybdenum 0.008 % 88.2 M lbs
Indicated 527,344 kt Rhenium 0.31 ppm 165.5 t
Indicated 527,344 kt Copper Equivalent 0.41 % 4.74 B lbs
Inferred 417,272 kt Copper 0.15 % 1.38 B lbs
Inferred 417,272 kt Gold 0.18 g/t 2.42 M oz
Inferred 417,272 kt Molybdenum 0.006 % 54.93 M lbs
Inferred 417,272 kt Rhenium 0.29 ppm 120.14 t
Inferred 417,272 kt Copper Equivalent 0.31 % 2.83 B lbs

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper Equivalent CAD  ......  Subscription required *
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Copper CAD  ......  Subscription required *†
C1 cash costs Copper CAD  ......  Subscription required *†
Assumed price Rhenium USD  ......  Subscription required *
Assumed price Molybdenum USD  ......  Subscription required *
Assumed price Copper USD  ......  Subscription required *
Assumed price Gold USD  ......  Subscription required *
* According to 2021 study / presentation.
† Net of By-Product.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operating Costs:

Units2021
OP mining costs ($/t milled) CAD 3.47 *
Processing costs ($/t milled) CAD  ......  Subscription required
G&A ($/t milled) CAD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/t milled) CAD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2021 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2021 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Equipment leasing costs $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Closure costs $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Total CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
OP OpEx $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M CAD 3,317
G&A costs $M CAD 229.6
Total OpEx $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Mining Taxes $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Income Taxes $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Royalty payments $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Net Income (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 0% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 5% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 0% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 5% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of February 4, 2021:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Cable reel truck ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 4, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 4, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required May 19, 2021
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Apr 19, 2022
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Corporate Presentation 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2017
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Northisle Intersects 0.81% Cu Eq. Over 63m and 0.67% Cu Eq. Over 147m at Hushamu; Gold-Rich Zone at Northwest Expo Extended May 31, 2022
Northisle Announces Filing of NI 43-101 Technical Report for 2021 PEA March 22, 2021
Northisle Regains 100% Control of Pemberton Hills February 4, 2021
Northisle Announces Positive PEA for the North Island Project Which Confirms it is One of the Most Attractive Cu-Au Projects in Canada February 4, 2021

Aerial view:

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