Overview
Stage | Production |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ... |
Mine Life | 2033 |
The Mount Milligan Mine is a conventional truck shovel open-pit copper and gold mine and process plant. The Mount Milligan Mine is currently permitted by the Province of British Columbia to operate at an average of 60,000 tpd over a calendar year. |
Source:
p. 35
Company | Interest | Ownership |
Centerra Gold Inc.
|
100 %
|
Indirect
|
Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc.
(operator)
|
100 %
|
Direct
|
Centerra's wholly-owned subsidiary, Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc., is the holder of the rights to the Mount Milligan Mine.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Porphyry
- Vein / narrow vein
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
Summary:
The Mount Milligan deposits are categorized as silica-saturated alkalic Cu-Au porphyry deposits (Lang et al., 1995; Panteleyev, 1995) associated with alkaline monzodioritic-to-syenitic igneous rocks and are recognized in only a few mineral provinces worldwide (Deyell and Tosdal, 2004).
Mineralization at the Mount Milligan deposit consists of two styles, early-stage porphyry gold-copper (Au-Cu) and late-stage high-gold low-copper (HGLC). The early-stage porphyry Au-Cu mineralization comprises mainly chalcopyrite and pyrite, occurs with potassic alteration and early-stage vein types and is spatially associated with composite monzonite porphyry stocks (especially at their hanging-wall and footwall margins), hydrothermal breccia, and narrow dyke and breccia complexes. Late-stage, structurally controlled pyritic HGLC style mineralization is associated with carbonate-phyllic alteration and intermediate- to late-stage vein types, and is spatially associated with faults, fault breccias and faulted lithological contacts (i.e. faulted monzonite porphyry dyke margins). It crosscuts and overprints the earlier stage porphyry Au-Cu mineralization.
Porphyry style Au-Cu mineralization occurs in the hanging-wall and footwall zones of the MBX, Saddle, Southern Star, and Goldmark stocks. Disseminated and vein/veinlet-hosted mineralization is associated with the composite monzonite stocks, their brecciated margins and variably altered volcanic host rocks. Core zones of auriferous chalcopyrit ........
Summary:
The mining operation is a conventional shovel and truck open pit mine feeding a 60,000 tpd (permitted throughput on an annualised basis) processing plant. The planned mine life is just over 11 years (2022 – 2033). The pit has been planned as a series of seven discrete pushbacks and scheduled to maximize the production of ore. Total ore and waste will be mined at a rate of 54.3 Mt/a in 2023, 51.9 Mt/a in 2024 and decreasing to 19.6 Mt/a by 2032 with the last reclaim of 1.9 Mt from the stockpile in 2033. This yields an overall LOM waste:ore ratio of 0.88:1.0. The mining sequence has been developed to allow for provision of suitable waste material for annual TSF construction requirements.
Pit slope designs are based on double-benching 15 m high benches and consider haulage ramp positioning, safety berms and other geotechnical features required to maintain safe inter-ramp angles (IRA) and overall slope angles.
Equipment sizing for ramps and working benches is based on the use of 229 t rigid-frame haul trucks. The operating width used for the truck is 8.3 m. This means that double lane widths are 34 m (three times the operating width plus berm and ditch). Ramp gradients are 10% in the pit.
MINE SCHEDULE
The 2022 LOM mine schedule considers pit mining from 2023 onward and stockpile reclaim (and includes a forecast stockpile balance at the end of 2022 of 2.7 Mt), delivers 220.9 Mt of mill feed grading 0.37 g/t gold and 0.18 % copper from 2023 – ........
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Source:
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Reserves at December 31, 2023:
The open pit mineral reserves are estimated based on a Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) cut-off of $8.65 per tonne (C$11.25 per tonne) that takes into consideration metallurgical recoveries, concentrate grades, transportation costs, and smelter treatment charges to determine economic viability.
The open pit mineral resources are constrained by a pit shell and are reported based on a NSR cut-off of $8.46 per tonne (C$11.00 per tonne) that takes into consideration metallurgical recoveries, concentrate grades, transportation costs, and smelter treatment charges to determine economic viability.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven
|
215,640 kt
|
Copper
|
0.17 %
|
828 M lbs
|
Proven
|
215,640 kt
|
Gold
|
0.34 g/t
|
2,387 koz
|
Probable
|
34,386 kt
|
Copper
|
0.18 %
|
134 M lbs
|
Probable
|
34,386 kt
|
Gold
|
0.39 g/t
|
435 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
250,025 kt
|
Copper
|
0.17 %
|
961 M lbs
|
Proven & Probable
|
250,025 kt
|
Gold
|
0.35 g/t
|
2,822 koz
|
Measured
|
118,289 kt
|
Copper
|
0.17 %
|
433 M lbs
|
Measured
|
118,289 kt
|
Gold
|
0.25 g/t
|
966 koz
|
Indicated
|
141,571 kt
|
Copper
|
0.13 %
|
418 M lbs
|
Indicated
|
141,571 kt
|
Gold
|
0.3 g/t
|
1,367 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
259,860 kt
|
Copper
|
0.15 %
|
851 M lbs
|
Measured & Indicated
|
259,860 kt
|
Gold
|
0.27 g/t
|
2,333 koz
|
Inferred
|
7,795 kt
|
Copper
|
0.14 %
|
24 M lbs
|
Inferred
|
7,795 kt
|
Gold
|
0.34 g/t
|
84 koz
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
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