BRITISH COLUMBIA IMPERIAL METALS will restart production at the Mount Polley copper mine 56 km northeast of Williams Lake as soon as its amended permit is approved. Mining will begin with the Northeast and Bell zones, followed by the Springer zone.
While sufficient minable resources have now been delineated at the Northeast zone to commence production, exploration aimed at expanding this zone continues. Two rigs are currently drilling at Mount Polley; one at the Northeast zone, and the other at the Springer zone.
Metallurgical testing on a composite sample from the Northeast zone has confirmed earlier expectations of good copper and gold recoveries. A locked cycle test conducted at an outside laboratory, G&T Metallurgical, has shown a concentrate grading 27.3% Cu, 9.9 g/t Au and 192 g/t Ag can be produced with recoveries of 89.9% for copper, 90.9% for gold and 64.5% for silver.
Imperial is arranging a $5-million line of credit facility to finance pre-production activity including the purchase of mining equipment, mill upgrades and tailings dam work. Learn more about the company at www.ImperialMetals.com.
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