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Chile

Santo Domingo Project

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Copper
  • Gold
  • Cobalt
  • Iron Ore
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Santo Domingo is a fully permitted copper-iron-gold project.

The Capstone has continued updating the Feasibility Study (FS) and plans to release it in the first half of 2024.

Also a district cobalt plant for Mantoverde – Santo Domingo (MV-SD) may allow for low-cost by-product cobalt production. The MV-SD cobalt study expected by the end of 2024.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Capstone Copper Corp. 100 % Indirect
Minera Santo Domingo SCM, a wholly owned Chilean subsidiary of Acquisition Co, holds the Santo Domingo copper-iron development project.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • IOCG
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Skarn

Summary:

Mineralization at Santo Domingo occurs primarily as iron oxide–copper–gold (IOCG) deposits with related vein and skarn bodies.

To date, four deposits, three of which support Mineral Reserves, and a number of prospects have been identified in the Project area.

Santo Domingo Sur
The andesitic flows and tuffs are the primary host to mineralization at Santo Domingo Sur. Mineralization consists of thick semi-massive to massive iron oxide mantos that have replaced the tuffaceous rocks. The stratigraphic sequence of andesitic flows and tuffs dips gently (at an angle of approximately 15°) towards the north–northwest under gravel cover.

Mineralization occurs in the form of copper-bearing semi-massive to massive iron oxide mantos with minor veins and breccias. The mantos are zoned from an outer rim of specular hematite toward a magnetite-rich core.

Drilling has identified a 150 m to 500 m thick, copper-bearing, specularite–magnetite sequence covering an area of approximately 1,300 m by 800 m, and traced to a depth of approximately 525 m below surface. Mineralization consists of stacked chalcopyrite bearing, specularite-magnetite mantos within tuff and tuffaceous sediments overlain by andesitic flows.

The mantos consist of semi-massive to massive specularite and magnetite layers with clots and stringers of chalcopyrite, that range in thickness from approximately 4 m to 20 m. The upper parts of the manto sequence directly below the overlying andesite flows are frequently oxidized and contain various amounts of copper oxides and chalcocite.

Iris
The Iris deposit is essentially blind, covered by a sequence of Quaternary gravel. The elongated shape of the deposit and textures observed in diamond drill holes indicate that the Iris deposit has formed in a north-northwest striking fault zone that is bounded by a west-dipping fault that can be traced along most of the deposit’s western side. The eastern side of the deposit is bordered by a steeply dipping fault that divides andesitic tuffs on the western side from calcareous sedimentary rocks and limestone to the east.

The Iris deposit footprint, when projected to surface, is approximately 500 m wide, has a strike length of 1,800 m, and has been traced from surface to a depth of approximately 670 m below surface. When the dip and plunge of the zones is considered, the real width of the deposit is of the order of 200 m.

The deposit consists of iron oxide mantos and breccias developed along a north–northwest-striking fault zone. The dominant iron oxide at Iris is hematite and the main copper mineral is chalcopyrite.

There are some old mine workings at the southern end of the deposit where copper oxides such as brochantite and chrysocolla were mined at surface. The oxide mineralization is hosted by a specularite manto that is cut by steeply-dipping structures. The extent of oxide mineralization at surface is approximately 100 m by 60 m.

The Iris Mag zone is located between the Iris deposit and the SDS deposit in a separate structural block. Mineralization in the zone consists of magnetite and chalcopyrite with a very high magnetite content (40% and more) and typically low copper content (approximately 0.1% Cu on average). The host rocks are andesitic flows and andesite breccias with a much smaller tuff component than the other zones. It appears that this part of the deposit has been subject to the initial high temperature magnetite event, but shows little evidence of a later oxidizing overprint that has introduced high copper and gold elsewhere.

Iris Norte
The Iris Norte deposit is located about 600 m to the north of the Iris deposit and is also blind, being entirely covered by a gravel sequence. The deposit is very similar in character to Iris, and occurs on the eastern edge of a pronounced gravity anomaly. The deposit is approximately 500 m wide and has been tested over a strike length of 1,600 m and to a depth of 320 m below surface.

Mineralization is primarily hosted in andesitic flows, which differs to the tuff host at Santo Domingo Sur and Iris. The Iris Norte deposit is also elongated in shape and seems to have formed in a structural zone. The deposit displays a northeasterly strike which is a rotation of approximately 55° clockwise versus the strike of the Iris deposit.

Mineralization consists of mixed magnetite and hematite mantos. The main sulphides in Iris Norte are pyrite and chalcopyrite, with the latter providing the copper content of the deposit. Iris Norte contains a higher proportion of magnetite than the Iris deposit and there are a higher proportion of intrusive rocks.

Estrellita
Estrellita comprises an east-west striking, flat lying to shallow north-dipping tabular body lying approximately 3.5 km northwest of Santo Domingo Sur. Mineralization is interpreted by Capstone geologists to occur at a higher stratigraphic level than Santo Domingo Sur, Iris and Iris Norte, which are hosted in tuff sequences below the level of mineralization at Estrellita. Drilling at Estrellita has shown that the host package of andesitic porphyries and flows has a thickness of up to 200 m. In the Estrellita area this package is underlain by a sequence of volcaniclastics with minor intercalations and interbeds of andesite porphyry, limestone and altered tuff.

Estrellita has been faulted into a series of four blocks which step downwards to the north, with displacement across the faults ranging up to approximately 75 m. The overall footprint of the zone measures 900 m long by 450 m wide and is up to 100 m thick.

The character of mineralization at the Estrellita deposit is a mixture of manto style, iron oxide and structurally-controlled, vein-style mineralization. The central part of the Estrellita deposit consists of a more or less horizontal tabular body of iron oxide manto that appears to have formed at the intersection of a flat-lying and a steeply-dipping set of specularite structures.

Copper mineralization typically consists of copper oxides such as brochantite, chrysocolla, almagre, cuprite, and chalcocite. The oxidized mineralization at surface becomes gradually less oxidized with depth and transitions through a mixed zone of oxides and sulphides into a sulphide zone where the main copper mineral is chalcopyrite.

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

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Copper Concentrate kt 1963,758
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs 1312,400
Gold Metal in concentrate koz 17305
Iron Ore Concentrate kt 4,15075,000

Operational metrics

Metrics
Daily milling rate  ....  Subscribe
Daily milling capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual mining rate  ....  Subscribe
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual milling rate  ....  Subscribe
Waste tonnes, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes milled, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2020 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Credits (by-product) Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
C1 cash costs Iron Ore USD  ....  Subscribe
C1 cash costs Copper Equivalent USD  ....  Subscribe
C1 cash costs Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
C1 cash costs Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Iron Ore USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2020 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency2020
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD 6.68 *  
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2020 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 2,548
Refining costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M USD 402.8
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Operating margin (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $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 Feb 19, 2020
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....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 10, 2024
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Aerial view:

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