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United States
Moonlight-Superior Project

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 Location:
15 km NE from Taylorsville, California, United States

  Project Contacts:
65 Queen Street West, Suite 520
Toronto
Ontario, Canada
M5H 2M5
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax416-860-9900
EmailEmail
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Overview

StagePreliminary Economic Assessment
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Processing
  • Flotation
Mine Life17 years (as of Jan 1, 2018)
The property hosts 4 known copper deposits.
Latest NewsCrown Identifies High Grade Copper-Silver Drill Targets at Superior Copper Project     August 11, 2020


Owners

 
CompanyInterestOwnership
US Copper Corp. 100 % Direct

Deposit Type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Porphyry


Summary:

The Moonlight copper deposit is classified as a porphyry copper deposit with associated gold, silver and molybdenum credits.

Oriented core and inspection of the bedrock in drilling sumps and shallow prospect workings showed that copper mineralization was contained on fractures with a wide variety of orientations. Strong copper mineralization was commonly observed on veinlets trending N20-35W and dipping 15-35 SW. In addition to the mineralization in shallow dipping fractures, copper is contained on NS steep
to moderately E dipping, N60-75E steeply N dipping, N70-85W steeply south dipping veinlets.

Both Sheffield and Placer have recognized that there at least two styles or stages of mineralization at the Moonlight deposit. The paragenetically earlier style is characterized by disseminated copper minerals located interstitial to quartz, feldspar, chlorite and especially disseminated rosettes of tourmaline. This mineralization usually consists of fine grained chalcopyrite but zones of disseminated bornite are also common. High in the system disseminated hypogene chalcocite has also been occasionally observed. Bornite has been observed to rim chalcopyrite grains in some places. Placer characterized this mineralization as late stage magmatic or pneumatolytic. A metasomatic origin should not be precluded. This style of mineralization shows some association with potassium feldspar and a very strong association with tourmaline and sometimes chlorite abundance.

The second transgressive stage of mineralization is characterized by veinlets or stockwork breccias which often have a gangue of tourmaline and lesser quartz with strong hematite. Strong copper mineralization was commonly observed on veinlets trending N20-35W and dipping 15 -35 SW. The overall orientation of the Moonlight deposit appears to be parallel to these gently southwest dipping fractures and indicates a good exploration target underneath the metavolcanics to the southwest. In addition to the mineralization in shallow dipping fractures, copper is contained on N-S steep to moderately E dipping, N60-75E steeply N dipping, N70-85W steeply south dipping veinlets. Although fracture hosted mineralization is widespread and often high grade at Moonlight, drilling to date has not revealed extensive vein- like structures similar to those mined at the Superior and Engels mines.

The Engels deposit is characterized as a shear zone-hosted, structurally-controlled, tabular breccia body(s) hosted within mafic units of the Lights Creek Stock as well as the metavolcanic rock into which the stock was intruded. Copper and silver mineralization at Engels appears to be associated with late-stage differentiates of the more felsic units of the Lights Creek Stock.

The steeply northward plunging, tabular Engels copper ore body is contained in a vertical shear zone that ranges from 25-125 ft in width. The ore principally consisted of bornite and chalcopyrite hosted in a hornblende gabbro body. Younger quartz diorite and quartz monzonite bodies are associated with the gabbro and likely played an important role in the placement of the copper mineralization.

The Superior and Sulfide Ridge deposits are classified as a porphyry copper deposits with associated silver and, to a lesser extent gold.

The Superior mine is thought to have formed at a higher temperature than the Moonlight deposit. The previously mined deposit consists of a stockwork of seven parallel, northeasterly striking, and easterly dipping (550-800) vein zones. The veins principally consist of chalcopyrite and some bornite, along with associated magnetite and pyrite and are 8-20 ft thick. Magnetite is more prevalent at the Superior Mine than at the Moonlight deposit while specularite, common at Moonlight is non-existent at Superior. The Superior mine exhibits some porphyry like attributes and similarities to Moonlight in that they are both found within an intrusive body in close proximity to an older metavolcanic sequence. Its copper mineralization is contained in stockwork vein system hosted in a similar quartz monzonite body to the host of the Moonlight deposit. Mineralization historically was mined from steeply dipping, thick chalcopyrite rich veins, steeply dipping controls to the mineralization at Moonlight are only now being considered important.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

All mining for the Moonlight deposit will be conducted utilizing conventional open pit mining methods with drill and blast, followed by load and haul with large diesel truck and shovel equipment.

The pit was designed to have varying haul road widths. A majority of the pit has a doublelane road, which is 100 ft (30.5 m) wide. This is based on the industry standard for the running width of a haul road to be a minimum of 3.5 times the width of the largest equipment, which in this case is a Komatsu 830 E haul truck. This does not include additional allocation for a drainage ditch and safety berm.

The depths of the pit were transitioned to a single-lane road to achieve a steeper pit slope and minimize the excavation and removal of uneconomical material. The singlelane road dimensions are 72 ft (22 m) wide.

The overall ramp gradient is 8% for both double lane and single lane roads.

Material will be drilled and blasted and then loaded with a hydraulic shovel into a fleet of haul trucks. This material will then be hauled from the open pit location to the primary crusher, where it will be end dumped into the crushing pocket. Waste will also be drilled and blasted, but will be loaded via one of two wheeled loaders. This waste will then be hauled to the WRMF and end dumped. From here a tracked dozer will push the dumped piles and shape the management facility as required.

Based on the selected bench height and the production schedule, a 10-inch diameter production drill was selected with a smaller drill rig to be used for pre-splitting. The blast design concept anticipates use of ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) as the main explosive for the blast holes (90%) with 10% by emulsion.

Primary loading is planned to be performed by a diesel hydraulic front shovel (Komatsu PC4000) with support from two-wheeled loaders (Komatsu WA1200) that will typically be allocated to loading waste. The shovel has a 29 cu yd capacity while the wheeled loaders have a 26 cu yd capacity.

The smaller excavator will also be utilized for pushback areas that don’t meet the minimum mining width, allowing for further flexibility and selectivity.

Komatsu 830E trucks were selected for the mining operation, which have a 240 st (218 t) capacity.


Crushing and Grinding
Flow Sheet: Source


Processing

  • Flotation

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

The 60,000 st/d processing plant will utilize three stages of crushing (gyratory, cone and HPGR crushing), ball mill grinding, and conventional flotation to produce a high-grade copper concentrate with associated precious metal credits. The processing plant will operate in two 12 h shifts per day, 365 d/a. The primary crushing plant availability will be 70%. Secondary crushing, tertiary crushing, grinding, and flotation plant availability will be 92%.

The process plant will consist of the following unit operations and facilities:

• run-of-mine (ROM) mineralized material receiving
• primary (gyratory) crushing
• crushed mineralized material stockpile and reclaim
• secondary crushing (cone crushers)
• tertiary crushing (HPGR crushers)
• ball mill grinding circuit incorporating with hydro-cyclones for classification
• copper rougher and scavenger flotation
• copper concentrate regrinding
• copper cleaner flotation
• coppe ........

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameterAvg. LOM
Copper Recovery Rate, % 86
Copper Head Grade, % 0.25
Copper Concentrate Grade, % 28
Silver Recovery Rate, % 70
Silver Head Grade, oz/ton 0.07

Projected Production:

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Copper Concentrate kt 1482,507
Copper Payable metal M lbs 1,492
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 1,547
Silver Payable metal koz  ......  Subscription required
Silver Metal in concentrate koz  ......  Subscription required

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio 0.78 *
Waste tonnes, LOM 285,879 k tons *
Ore tonnes mined, LOM 364,967 k tons *
Total tonnes mined, LOM 650,846 k tons *
Daily processing capacity 60,000 tons *
Tonnes processed, LOM 364,967 k tons *
Annual processing rate 21,469 k tons *
Annual processing capacity 21,896,000 tons *
* According to 2018 study.

Reserves at December 15, 2017:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Indicated 252,000 k tons Copper 0.25 % 636 k tons
Indicated 252,000 k tons Gold 0.0001 oz/ton 18 koz
Indicated 252,000 k tons Silver 0.07 oz/ton 18,400 koz
Inferred 109,000 k tons Copper 0.24 % 267 k tons
Inferred 109,000 k tons Gold 0.0001 oz/ton 9 koz
Inferred 109,000 k tons Silver 0.08 oz/ton 9,000 koz

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Assumed price Copper USD 3.15 / lb *
Assumed price Silver USD 18 / lb *
* According to 2018 study / presentation.

Operating Costs:

Units2018
OP mining costs ($/ton mined) USD 1.32 *
OP mining costs ($/ton milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing costs ($/ton milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/ton milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2018 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2018 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Equipment leasing costs $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M USD 1,740
G&A costs $M USD 237
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Net Operating Income (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  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 April 12, 2018:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantityLeased or
Contractor
Compactor ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Leased
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesYear
Subscription required 2018

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2018
Press Release 2018
Technical Report 2014
Technical Report 2007
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Crown Identifies High Grade Copper-Silver Drill Targets at Superior Copper Project August 11, 2020
Crown Mining Corp. Completes Purchase of Moonlight Property March 13, 2018
Crown Mining Corp. Announces PEA Results for the Moonlight Copper Project March 2, 2018

Aerial view:

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