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Canada

Scott Lake Project

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StagePreliminary Economic Assessment
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Zinc
  • Silver
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Transverse stoping
  • Longhole stoping
  • Cut & Fill
  • Overhand Cut & Fill
  • Drift & Fill
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Scott Lake project were announced on November 20, 2017.

Under the Environmental Quality Act (Quebec), an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”) will be required and a Certificate of Authorization (“CA”) will need to be obtained for the mining operations at the project. In addition to the CA, Yorbeau will have to obtain permits, authorizations, approvals, certificates, and leases required from the appropriate authorities.

To date, no permits have been obtained.

No work on the Scott Lake project is planned for 2024.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Yorbeau Resources Inc. 100 % Direct
Yorbeau Resources Inc. owns a 100% interest in the Scott Lake property, which is composed of three (3) claim blocks totalling 78 claims located in the Scott, Lévy and Obalski townships in Quebec. Some of these claims are subject to production royalties to third parties.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • VMS

Summary:

The Property is located on the north limb of the Chibougamau Anticline. From south to north, the Property stratigraphy consists of a monoclinal sequence extending from the upper units of the Lake Doré Complex and the Chibougamau Pluton to basalts of the Gilman Formation, with remnants of felsic rocks of the Waconichi Formation caught in between. All units are metamorphosed to the greenschist facies.

The Project consists of a number of mineralized zones that have all the characteristics of volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) mineralization. VMS-style mineralization at Scott Lake comprises distinct stratabound massive sulphide lenses located mainly along or close to rhyolite-andesite/basalt contacts. In addition to the massive sulphides, separate zones of VMS style disseminated and stringer sulphides, which may or may not be connected with massive sulphide lenses, have been found over a strike length of at least two kilometres.

The following mineralized zones and lenses have been outlined by drilling at Scott Lake to date:
- Selco Scott deposit;
- West Massive Sulphide Lens;
- 34 Zinc Massive Sulphide Lens, which is stacked above the West Lens;
- Scott Lake Sulphide Stringer Zone, which lies below the West Lens;
- 800 Massive Sulphide Lens;
- Massive Sulphide Central Zone including three lenses, which have been interpreted as stacked above the Sulphide Stringer Zone;
- CFO Lens, which is located west of and at depth from the West Lens;
- CFO Stringer Zone, located beside and underneath the CFO Lens;
- Gap Zone that was recently discovered between the West Lens and the CFO Lens and at the western extent of the Sulphide Stringer Zone. Its eastern extent incorporates the former SC-30 lens.

SELCO-SCOTT DEPOSIT
The Selco-Scott deposit occurs along the contact between altered rhyolites and mafic rocks to the south and a large quartz porphyry dome to the north. No unequivocal stratigraphic facing criteria have been recognized in the immediate vicinity of the deposit, but it is interpreted that the tops are to the north or northwest based on a pillowed andesite outcrop located on strike with and approximately 250 m to the west of the lens, and on pillowed basalt outcrops several hundred metres to the north of the deposit. The irregular intrusive contact between the Chibougamau Pluton and the volcanic rocks lies just south of the deposit and locally comes within 10 m of the sulphide lens. The Selco-Scott deposit has a general east-west strike, with a length of approximately 300 m at the subcrop diminishing to less than 200 m at depth. It dips to the south at approximately 70° to a depth of approximately 200 m where it steepens to near vertical. The massive sulphides narrow with depth and pinch out at a depth of approximately 450 m. The lens is stratiform and varies up to approximately six metres to seven metres in true thickness. It appears that a significant portion of the original deposit may have been removed by erosion.

Pyrite is the most abundant metallic mineral in the deposit and typically constitutes 50% to 80% of the mineralization (Saunders and Allard, 1990). Sphalerite is the main mineral of economic interest and in places constitutes up to 25% of the deposit.

800 LENS
The 800 Lens is located along the south contact of the Scott Rhyolite approximately 600 m west of the Selco-Scott deposit and is centred on Section 800W. It starts at a vertical depth of 500 m and pinches out or disappears at approximately 800 m. It consists of 100% sulphides except for narrow internal diorite or mafic dykes. It has been intersected by only four holes spaced approximately 100 m apart. The sphalerite in the 800 Lens is pale grey to yellowish in colour, which makes it easy to underestimate zinc grades visually. Unlike at other lenses, the massive sulphides are located along a well-defined stratigraphic contact between basalts to the south and altered rhyolite to the north. Sulphide stringers carrying low-grade copper and zinc values are developed in the rhyolite just to the north of the massive sulphides (i.e., presumably in the stratigraphic hanging wall if tops are to the north). Furthermore, the massive sulphides grade laterally into a well-bedded cherty tuff, which is common for VMS camps.

CENTRAL LENSES
It stretches along a flat rake from sections 1000W to 1500W over a strike length of 400 m and at depths ranging from 200 m to 350 m. Unlike the SelcoScott and 800 lenses, which are located along the south contact of the Scott Rhyolite, the Central Zone massive sulphides occur near the north contact of the rhyolite but mostly vertically above the Scott Rhyolite and are hosted essentially in mafic intrusives and/or flows. Massive sulphides in the Central Zone are typically coarse grained with grain sizes in the order of three to five millimetres.

The current model for the Central Zone is that it formed initially as a thick massive sulphide lens sitting directly on top of the Scott Rhyolite from which it was subsequently disconnected and elevated above the Scott Rhyolite by mafic dykes or sills to form three separate massive sulphide slabs (Central 1, Central 2, and Central 3). The current model is that the sulphide zones are largely flat lying (like parts of the West Lens) and are separated from each other by barren mafic dykes and sills.

WEST LENS
The current model involves an elongated east-west trending pod of massive sulphides at the top of a rhyolite ridge or dome, underlain by vertical zones of stringer and semi-massive sulphides. Stringer sulphides reach thicknesses of over 20 m horizontal.

“34” ZINC LENS
This zinc-rich zone may represent a distinct mineralized horizon stacked above the West Lens but, alternately, may also represent a raft that was initially connected to the West Lens and subsequently cut off from the underlying West Lens massive sulphides and moved above the West Lens by mafic dykes and sills, analogous to the separation of the Central Lenses from the underlying stringer zone.

CFO LENS
Significantly, and unlike the West Lens and other mineralization at Scott Lake, this new lens is associated with the Tony Rhyolite, a rhyolite unit which is different from the Scott Rhyolite that hosts the West Lens and is located approximately 100 m further to the north. Strong chlorite alteration is associated with the CFO Lens, both in the Tony Rhyolite and in surrounding mafic fragmental rocks. Recent structural interpretation suggests that the CFO Lens appears to be a structural “raft” caught within the Gwillim Lake fault corridor, and may have been dragged into the northeast trending fault corridor from an unknown source.

The vertical depths of the intersections range from 900 m to1,013 m from surface. The CFO Lens is deeper than the rest of the mineralization at Scott Lake, but the mineralized intercepts obtained so far in the CFO Lens are almost double the overall average copper grade in the RPA (2011) estimate.

STRINGER ZONE (SCOTT RHYOLITE)
In addition to massive sulphides, widespread zones of stringer-type mineralization have also been identified at Scott Lake and more specifically over a two-kilometre strike length within the Scott Rhyolite. However, these stringer zones have not been given specific names and are grouped under the heading “Stringer Zone” for the purpose of resource estimation. Some of the stringer zones are in close proximity and are probably related to specific massive sulphide lenses, whereas other stringer zones do not have any clearly identified massive sulphides associated with them. Furthermore, particularly in the West Lens and Gap Zone areas, stringer sulphides may grade vertically or laterally into massive sulphides.

The Stringer Zone may contain significant copper, zinc, and silver over widths often exceeding 10 m and thus form mineralized envelopes of potential economic interest.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnitsLOM
Copper Metal in zinc concentrate M lbs 11
Copper Payable metal M lbs 175
Copper Metal in copper conc. M lbs 182
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 193
Copper Concentrate kt 327
Zinc Metal in copper conc. M lbs 55
Zinc Payable metal M lbs 811
Zinc Metal in zinc concentrate M lbs 954
Zinc Metal in concentrate M lbs 1,009
Zinc Concentrate kt 778
Silver Payable metal koz 4,300
Silver Metal in zinc concentrate koz 1,348
Silver Metal in copper conc. koz 4,639
Silver Metal in concentrate koz 5,986
Gold Metal in zinc concentrate oz 5,061
Gold Payable metal oz 47,529
Gold Metal in copper conc. oz 58,155
Gold Metal in concentrate oz 63,216

Operational metrics

Metrics
Daily mining rate 2,812 t *
Daily ore mining rate 2,204 t *
Daily milling rate 2,204 t *
Daily milling capacity 2,500 t *
Waste tonnes, LOM 3,587 kt *
Ore tonnes mined, LOM 12,024 kt *
Total tonnes mined, LOM 15,341 kt *
Tonnes milled, LOM 12,024 kt *
* According to 2017 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Assumed price Zinc USD 1.3 / lb *  
Assumed price Copper USD 3.5 / lb *  
Assumed price Silver USD 23 / oz *  
Assumed price Gold USD 1,500 / oz *  
* According to 2017 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
UG mining costs ($/t mined) CAD  ....  Subscribe
UG mining costs ($/t milled) CAD  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) CAD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) CAD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) CAD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2017 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
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Sustaining CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
UG OpEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 330.5
Refining and treatment costs $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M CAD 85.6
Total OpEx $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Net revenue (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 5% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 5% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M CAD  ......  Subscribe
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Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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EV - Electric

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneEmailRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Dec 16, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Oct 28, 2024

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2017

Aerial view:

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