Mining Intelligence and News
Poland

Olza Project

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Zinc
  • Lead
Mining Method
  • Room-and-pillar
Backfill type ... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotRathdowney Resources Ltd. is focused on advancing Project Olza through the permitting process toward a mining license and into production.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Rathdowney Resources Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Rathdowney Resources holds a 100% interest in Project Olza through its wholly owned subsidiary, Rathdowney Polska Sp z o.o.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Mississippi Valley Type

Summary:

Project Olza hosts a Mississippi Valley type zinc-lead deposit.

The property comprises three adjoining Exploration Concessions for the prospecting and exploration for zinc and lead ores. The Zawiercie, Rokitno, and Chechlo concessions are approximately 60 km northwest of the city of Krakow in southern Poland, and have a total surface area of 152.65 km2 .

The Project is within the North European Plain, a relatively flat area with an average elevation between 300 to 350 m above sea level. Within the project area, there is land available for potential surface facilities to support a proposed underground mine and associated processing infrastructure.

Project Olza lies within the Upper Silesian Mining district, near the boundary between the Caledonian Krakow-Myszkow structural zone and the Variscan Upper Silesian coal basin. Zinc and lead deposits in Upper Silesia are principally hosted by dolomites of the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk Formation but locally zinc and lead mineralization also occurs in older rocks, including Devonian limestone and dolomite. In the southwestern part of the district, the Triassic host rocks overlie Upper Carboniferous Coal Measures. However, in the northeastern part of the district, where Project Olza is located, the Triassic rocks transgressively overlap the erosional paleosurface of the Lower Carboniferous and Devonian carbonates, and the PermoCarboniferous strata are missing. Below this succession lie Lower Paleozoic sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks that comprise the strongly folded Variscan-Caledonian basement.

An important control of the mineralization in the essentially flat-lying Mesozoic rocks of the Upper Silesian district is sub-vertical extensional faulting.

The bulk of zinc-lead mineralization in the district is hosted by the 30 to 80 m thick ore-bearing dolomite (OBD), a zone of epigenetic hydrothermal alteration largely coincident with the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk beds and distinct from the earlier, regional-scale, diagenetic dolomitization. While this zone of dolomitization is largely restricted to the strata of the Lower Muschelkalk Formation, it does locally extend into the underlying Devonian carbonates and the overlying MiddleUpper Muschelkalk dolomites.

Mineralization
The zinc-lead deposits are essentially stratiform to podiform bodies, occurring as replacement karstic cavity infill and collapse breccia mineralization. Thicknesses of these stratiform deposits are irregular but they can range up to 10 m or so. The lateral extent of individual pods or lenses also varies but is typically several hundred meters. Breccia-pipe and vein-type mineralization also rarely occurs. Deposit mineralogy is dominated by sphalerite and galena, with associated marcasite, and subordinate calcite, dolomite and locally barite. Silver is largely associated with sphalerite.

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
Zinc Concentrate kt 1641,275
Zinc Payable metal M lbs 1,338
Zinc Metal in concentrate M lbs 1971,574
Lead Concentrate kt 40307
Lead Payable metal M lbs 449
Lead Metal in concentrate M lbs 59473

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
C1 cash costs Zinc USD 0.3 / lb * **  USD
C2 total cash costs Zinc USD 0.56 / lb * **  USD
C3 fully allocated costs Zinc USD 0.57 / lb * **  USD
Assumed price Lead USD 1 / lb *  USD
Assumed price Zinc USD 1.1 / lb *  USD
* According to 2014 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency2024
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 2014 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
UG OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 184.5
Backfill costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Freight costs $M USD 7.4
Refining costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M USD 56.4
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Income Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $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 Dec 31, 2014
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 16, 2024

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2014

Aerial view:

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