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Chile
Los Helados Project

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 Location:
131 km SE from Copiapó, Chile

  Project Contacts:
Suite 2000 - 885 West Georgia Street
Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada
V6C 3E8
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+1 604 689 4250
EmailEmail
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StagePreliminary Economic Assessment
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Block caving
Mine Life41 years (as of Jan 1, 2016)
Los Helados is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold-silver deposits in the world.
Latest NewsNGEx Minerals Extends Both the Alicanto (122m at 1.05% CuEq) and Fenix Zones (220m at 0.72% CuEq); Four Drills Active at Los Helados     January 26, 2023


Owners

Source:
CompanyInterestOwnership
Nippon Caserones Resources Co., Ltd 36.2 % Indirect
NGEX Minerals Ltd. (operator) 63.8 % Indirect
As of March 31 2020, NGEX Minerals Ltd. holds an approximately 63.8% interest in Los Helados subject to a Joint Exploration Agreement with Nippon Caserones Resources which holds the remaining approximately 36.2%. NGEx is the operator of the Los Helados Project.

NGEx has a life-of-project lease agreement with the owners of the surface rights covering 20,000 hectares over the Los Helados Project area. This agreement secures the surface rights needed for all future exploration, development and mining.

The Los Helados deposit is held by Minera Frontera del Oro (MFDO), an indirectly wholly-owned Chilean subsidiary of NGEx.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Porphyry
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Hydrothermal


Summary:

Based on geological features and location, the Los Helados deposit is classified as a porphyry Cu–Au system. Porphyries are well documented along the Andes and represent a widespread type of deposit in Chile.

The Los Helados project area is underlain most extensively by Permo-Triassic rocks assigned to the Choiyoi Group that form the Andean basement in the region.

The Los Helados porphyry Cu-Au system is exposed in a high-elevation, northwestfacing cirque with high topographic relief. The bottom of the elongated cirque, where the uppermost part of the deposit is exposed at surface, is at 4500 metres above sea level, while the sides of the valley rise steeply above to 5300 metres on the eastern side: a difference of at least 800 metres. The abundant rock exposures on this steep eastern slope provide the best outcrop for mapping geological relationships at surface, including excellent alteration vectors towards the largely covered deposit in the cirque bottom.

The host rocks to the deposit are largely Permo-Triassic in age. Granite is the oldest, and most regionally extensive unit. It is intruded by a tonalitic- to dioritic intrusive complex as well as fine-grained andesite dykes, typical of the Permo-Triassic in the region. A rhyodacitic to rhyolitic feldspar-phyric intrusion has previously been interpreted to pre-date the mafic units, however recent work suggest that the rhyodacitic intrusion is a pre-mineral porphyry of Eocene to Late Oligoce ........


Mining Methods

  • Block caving


Summary:

The main conclusions and recommendations from the block cave geomechanics study were:

- Based on empirical methods, caving of the Los Helados rock mass can be achieved with a minimum hydraulic radius (HR) of 39. This equates to a cave initiation footprint of approximately 135 x 185 m. It is concluded that cave initiation can be successfully achieved at Los Helados given the rock mass conditions and proposed mining footprints.

- The rock mass characteristics suggest that unassisted cave propagation may be an issue at Los Helados, with a planned lift height of 1,000 m. The proposed height/width ratios of the cave are 0.56 to 2.75, depending on which side of the cave is considered. This indicates that there could be a risk of cave-stalling, depending on the initiation strategy. The proposed single lift of more than 800 m over the full footprint area is greater than what has currently been done in other existing traditional block cave operations. In order to ensure cave propagation of the proposed 1,000 m column, the design will incorporate a HF preconditioning lift located at 3,840 mRL. HQ diameter preconditioning holes will be drilled on a 70 m x 82 m grid spacing, using 300 m upholes and 300 m down-holes. To complete the full column HF, two design options are possible. Both options will have the same lower HF level at 3,840 masl. The difference between the two options is that one has a second HF lift at 4,120 masl and the second option assumes 500 m do ........


Crushing and Grinding
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Processing

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Summary:

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Projected Production:

CommodityUnitsLOM
Copper kt 5,339
Gold koz  ......  Subscription required
Silver koz  ......  Subscription required
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Daily milling capacity 120,000 t *
Daily ore mining rate 120,000 t *
Ore tonnes mined, LOM 1,557,279 kt *
Annual ore mining rate 43,800 kt *
* According to 2016 study.

Reserves at April 26, 2019:
Cut-off grade of 0.33% CuEq

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Indicated 2,099 Mt Copper 0.38 % 17.6 B lbs
Indicated 2,099 Mt Gold 0.15 g/t 10.1 M oz
Indicated 2,099 Mt Silver 1.37 g/t 92.5 M oz
Indicated 2,099 Mt Copper Equivalent 0.48 %
Inferred 827 Mt Copper 0.32 % 5.8 B lbs
Inferred 827 Mt Gold 0.1 g/t 2.7 M oz
Inferred 827 Mt Silver 1.32 g/t 35.1 M oz
Inferred 827 Mt Copper Equivalent 0.39 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Assumed price Copper USD 3 / lb *  
Assumed price Silver USD 20 / oz *  
Assumed price Gold USD 1,275 / oz *  
* According to 2016 study / presentation.

Operating Costs:

Units2016
UG mining costs ($/t milled) USD 4.43 *
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2016 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2016 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscription required
UG OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M USD 6,635
Refining costs $M USD  ......  Subscription required
G&A costs $M USD 1,246
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Pipelines
TypeMaterialDiameterLengthDescription


Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of March 31, 2016:
HME TypeQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Drill (long hole) ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 22, 2016
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Dec 6, 2021
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2016

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2019
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2016
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
NGEx Minerals Extends Both the Alicanto (122m at 1.05% CuEq) and Fenix Zones (220m at 0.72% CuEq); Four Drills Active at Los Helados January 26, 2023

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