Mining Intelligence and News
United States

Palmer Project

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Zinc
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Barite
  • Lead
Mining Method
  • Transverse stoping
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Longhole stoping
Backfill type ... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotPalmer is an advanced-stage, high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide project in Southeast Alaska. The Palmer Property includes Zinc, Copper and Barite, recognized as critical minerals by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

American Pacific Mining Corp has submitted for approval a Plan of Operations to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources summarizing the next five years of field activities, until 2028. The Plan sets a clear path forward for the next five years, outlining the additional work programs necessary for gathering pre-feasibility level data and ensuring a thorough and assessment of the Project.

2024 Palmer work program highlights:
• Mineral resource expansion drilling
• Environmental and permitting activities, including ongoing environmental baseline studies and compliance work.
• Engineering studies, critical trade-off studies, and ongoing data collection in preparation for future feasibility studies.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
American Pacific Mining Corp. 100 % Indirect
On November 18, 2024, American Pacific Mining Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Constantine North Inc. and Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd. to acquire Dowa’s interest in Constantine Mining LLC, the holder of the Palmer VMS Project. Following the acquisition of the Dowa Interest, American Pacific will have consolidated a 100%-interest in the Project.

Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement executed November 15th, 2024, CNI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Pacific, will acquire the Dowa Interest from Dowa and Dowa will pay US$10,000,000 to American Pacific in exchange for providing Dowa with an option to acquire up to 50% of the zinc concentrate produced at the Project for the initial year of production and each subsequent year of production at the Project and the provision of certain indemnities in the Purchase Agreement.

American Pacific is pleased to have regained 100%-ownership and control of Palmer.

Deposit type

  • VMS

Summary:

The Project hosts two known VMS deposits, the Palmer deposit, which consists of the South Wall and RW Zones, and the newly discovered AG Zone deposit, located three km to the southwest (At the South Wall and RW Zones, six mineralization styles have been identified and are grouped according to dominant mineral assemblages and texture and include: Barite mineralization (Zn-rich), Massive Pyrite Mineralization (Cu-rich), Semi-massive and Stringer-style Mineralization, Massive Pyrrhotite Mineralization, Carbonate Mineralization and Barite-Carbonate Mineralization. At the AG Zone deposit, mineralization consists of Massive and Semi-massive sulfide and barite, and feeder-style stringers and replacement. Four alteration facies are associated with the known mineralized zones and include: Quartz-Pyrite, Muscovite, CarbonateChlorite and Epidote.

The South Wall Zones (SWZI, SWZII-III, SWEMZ) are located on the south-facing, steeply dipping limb of megascopic, deposit-scale anticline, disrupted by recognized thrust faulting, normal faulting and strike-slip faulting. The RW Zones (RW East, RW West, RW Oxide) are located on the north-facing, gently dipping upper limb of the same anticline. The RW Oxide Zone is the near surface equivalent of the RW East Zone where sulfide minerals of massive barite-sulfide mineralization have been oxidized and leached, depleting the zone of copper and zinc and enriching the silver and gold grades. The AG Zone deposit (including the AG Main Lens and AG Footwall Zone) is located three km m to the southwest, on a steep Nunatak between the Saksaia and South Saksaia Glaciers.

Drilling to date has defined a total plunge length of near-continuous South Wall mineralization of 700 m, and a total strike length to 550 m, with exhalative mineralization occurring at more than one stratigraphic level. The RW Zones have been defined over a dip length of 325 m, and a total strike length of 800 m. The new AG Zone deposit has a strike length of 550 m and a vertical extent of 250 m. Reconstruction of the primary depositional environment of the Palmer Deposit (via unfolding and restoration of post-mineralization fault offset) yields a single continuous mineralized system that is over 1.5 km in length. The known zones are open to expansion in multiple directions, and most notably, the thickest mineralized intersection is located at the lower limit of the South Wall drilling done to date.

At the South Wall and RW Zones, six mineralization styles have been identified and are grouped according to dominant mineral assemblages and texture and include: Barite mineralization (Zn-rich), Massive Pyrite Mineralization (Cu-rich), Semi-massive and Stringer-style Mineralization, Massive Pyrrhotite Mineralization, Carbonate Mineralization and Barite-Carbonate Mineralization. At the AG Zone deposit, mineralization consists of Massive and Semi-massive sulfide and barite, and feeder-style stringers and replacement. Four alteration facies are associated with the known mineralized zones and include: Quartz-Pyrite, Muscovite, Carbonate-Chlorite and Epidote.

The South Wall Zones (SWZI, SWZII-III, SWEMZ) are located on the south-facing, steeply dipping limb of megascopic, deposit-scale anticline, disrupted by recognized thrust faulting, normal faulting and strike-slip faulting. The RW Zones (RW East, RW West, RW Oxide) are located on the north-facing, gently dipping upper limb of the same anticline. The RW Oxide Zone is the near surface equivalent of the RW East Zone where sulfide minerals of massive barite-sulfide mineralization have been oxidized and leached, depleting the zone of copper and zinc and enriching the silver and gold grades. The AG Zone deposit (including the AG Main Lens and AG Footwall Zone) is located three km m to the southwest, on a steep Nunatak between the Saksaia and South Saksaia Glaciers.

Drilling to date has defined a total plunge length of near-continuous South Wall mineralization of 700 m, and a total strike length to 550 m, with exhalative mineralization occurring at more than one stratigraphic level. The RW Zones have been defined over a dip length of 325 m, and a total strike length of 800 m. The new AG Zone deposit has a strike length of 550 m and a vertical extent of 250 m. Reconstruction of the primary depositional environment of the Palmer Deposit (via unfolding and restoration of post-mineralization fault offset) yields a single continuous mineralized system that is over 1.5 km in length. The known zones are open to expansion in multiple directions, and most notably, the thickest mineralized intersection is located at the lower limit of the South Wall drilling done to date.

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 Payable metal M lbs 188
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 210
Copper Concentrate kt 363
Zinc Payable metal M lbs 908
Zinc Metal in concentrate M lbs 1,124
Zinc Concentrate kt 790
Silver Payable metal koz 13,596
Silver Metal in concentrate koz 18,077
Gold Payable metal koz 58
Gold Metal in concentrate koz 91
Barite Concentrate kt 2,894

Operational metrics

Metrics
Daily ore mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Daily milling rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual milling capacity  ....  Subscribe
Waste tonnes, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes milled, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Barite USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Zinc USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Silver USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
UG mining costs ($/t mined) USD  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2022 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
UG OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 210
G&A costs $M USD 103.3
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net Operating Income (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 7% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 7% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 27, 2024
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Aerial view:

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