Trevali Resources Corp. in conjunction with partner Glencore International A.G. has successfully completed a positive internal mine development study examining initiating mining operations on the newly discovered Magistral deposits at the Santander polymetallic project in west-central Peru.
Trevali and Glencore have entered into a definitive development agreement for the Santander project that will see Glencore provide and operate a 2,000-tonne-per-day concentrate plant, undertake mining operations on a 'contractor/toll basis' and enter into a long-term concentrate offtake agreement for 100% of Santander project production at benchmark terms.
Trevalis Santander silver-lead-zinc mine project is located approximately 215 km by road from Lima, in the western extent of Peru's prolific Cerro de Pasco mineral district. The mine operated from 1958-1993 targeting a single Carbonate Replacement Deposit--type pipe and manto structure, the Santander Orebody.
Substantial site infrastructure at the formerly producing operation includes a fully refurbished 200-man camp and associated support facilities, an ore processing / concentrator plant (including various crushers, mills, flotation cells and filters able to produce zinc, lead-silver and copper concentrates) undergoing refurbishment, and the Tingo hydroelectric power-station located 17 km down-valley to the west. The Santander project and the considerable existing infrastructure form a highly strategic asset in this mining district. The Company commenced exploration at Santander in November 2007 discovering four new high-grade silver-lead-zinc replacement and massive sulphide bodies to date.
A recently completed independent NI 43-101 resource estimate of the three Magistral deposits by Golder Associates Engineers (see NR-09-06) reviews a total Indicated Mineral Resource of 5,298,000 tonnes with an average grade of 3.34% zinc, 1.27% lead and 38 g/t silver (using a 2% ZnEQ* cut-off grade) -- for a contained metal inventory of 390 million lbs. zinc, 149 million lbs. lead and 6.5 million oz. silver in the Indicated category. An additional Inferred Mineral Resource of 2,244,000 tonnes grading 2.92% zinc, 0.50% lead and 18 g/t silver was also reviewed in the three deposits using the same cut-off grade -- for contained metals of 144 million lbs. zinc, 25 million lbs. lead and 1.3 million oz. silver. All three Magistral bodies remain open at depth and to the East.
Additionally, a further 100 million contained lbs. of zinc are estimated to be present in the 1,656,000 indicated tonnes grading at 2.74% zinc (using a 2.0% zinc cut-off grade) within the Santander Tailings Impoundment.
Additionally, through its wholly owned subsidiary Trevali Renewable Energy Inc., the Company is undertaking a significant upgrade of the Tingo run-of-river hydroelectric generating facility along with transmission line upgrades and extensions to allow the potential sale of surplus power into the Peruvian National Energy Grid.
Source: Financial Post
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