The Pine Point deposits are carbonate-hosted lead-zinc sulphide deposits with aspects of Mississippi Valley-Type (“MVT”). MVT deposits and a broader class of deposits called “sediment-hosted Pb-Zn” deposits (Leach et al., 2010).

Mineralization is hosted in three distinct deposit types:

1. Prismatic Deposits–Prismatic deposits demonstrate considerable vertical continuity but with limited lateral extent and are discordant. Mineralization is coarse to medium grained. These deposit types are further divided in to normal and abnormal prismatic deposits based on their relative stratigraphic position in the sequence. They contributed greatly to the Pine Point historical production as they contained very high-grade base metal grades and thicknesses.

2. Tabular Deposits–Laterally continuous, semi-concordant mineralized zones mostly restricted to a specific carbonate horizon.

3. N204 Deposit–N204 mineralization consists of fine crystalline mineralization deposited within the porosity ofstrati-bound layersbelow the mainsequence known as the B-spongy horizon where intense dissolution resulted in the development of a fine dolomite breccia. This type of deposit has to date only been identified at N204.

Prismatic Deposits
Prismatic deposits are generally high-grade and can contain up to 50% combined Pb-Zn, depending on the amount of sulphide mineralization present. These deposits are vertically continuous for up to 60m, and later ........

The Pine Point Lead-Zinc Project is composed of numerous lead-zinc deposits that cover a 65-km strike length.

The Project is to be mined both as open-pits and underground workings. Two types of geological deposits (Tabular and Prismatic) are included in the mineralized material. The Tabular deposits are a rather flat layer, at shallow depth (less than 200 m) and are generally thin (5-10 m). The Prismatic deposits have a more vertical extent that could have up to 60 m thickness and are still shallow. The shape of these two types of deposits creates a series of aligned pit shells or underground workings that have generally less than 1,000 m in diameter. Some of the deposits are extensions of pits from the Cominco era that were not known or not economical at the time, while others are new discoveries.

Most of the deposits are planned to be mined as open-pits and are located in the northern and main trend. The deeper deposits with higher strip ratio are planned to be mined from underground, when the grade can support such mining method operating costs. The total mineralized material is 37.9 Mt grading 3.98% Zn and 1.44% Pb for open-pits, and 9.0 Mt grading 6.14% Zn and 3.11% Pb for underground. The total combined mineralized material is 46.9 Mt at 4.39% Zn and 1.76% Pb.

? Forty-seven deposits from four zones (East Mill, Central, North, and N204) are mined as open- pits, considering the deposit’s size, shape, orientation, and proximity to the surf ........

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The processing plant will consist of the following unit operations:
- Primary jaw crushing;
- Secondary and tertiary crushing and mineral sorting;
- Fine mineralized materialstorage and handling;
- Ball mill grinding in a closed circuit with hydrocyclone classification;
- Lead flotation cells including rougher and two cleaning stages;
- Zinc flotation cells including rougher and two cleaning stages;
- Concentrate dewatering (zinc and lead concentrates);
- Flotation tailings thickening and pumping;
- Fresh and reclaim water supply;
- Reagent preparation and distribution.

Two types of final concentrates will be produced: a zinc concentrate and a lead concentrate.

Flotation
The cyclone overflow slurry will feed the conditioning tanks ahead of the lead flotation circuit. The lead flotation circuit will consist of one row of rougher cells and two rows of cleaner cells. The rougher stage will consist of four 100 m3 ........