The Company filed its updated Mount Hope 43-101 Feasibility Study 2013 on the Mt. Hope Project, which was completed in accordance with the Canada National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101), in January 2014.
Technical Report Feasibility Study for Mt. Hope Project
Please refer to the listed Qualified Persons and other NI 43-101 disclosures in the Technical Report.
Figure 1: NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Mt. Hope Project – Summary of Key Project Data (100% basis)
| Open Pit Mine Life (years) | 34 | ||
| Milling of Low Grade stockpile (years) | 7 | ||
| Total Life (years) | 41 | ||
| Ore Density (SG) | 2.53 | ||
| Mine Type: | Open Pit | ||
| Process Description: | Crushing, Grinding, Flotation, Concentrate Leaching, Thickening, Filtering, Roasting and Packaging | ||
| Mill Throughput (Short tons per day) | 66,688 | ||
| Initial Capital Costs ($U.S. Millions) | $1,246 | ||
| Sustaining Capital Costs ($U.S. Millions) | $786 | ||
| Average Annual Payable Metals | 5 yr | 10 yr | LOM |
| Ore Grade, Mo % | 0.092 | 0.086 | 0.070 |
| Mill Recovery % | 89.8 | 89.5 | 88.8 |
| Leach and Roaster Recovery % | 99.2 | 99.2 | 99.2 |
| Molybdenum (millions of lbs) | 40.1 | 37.2 | 28.9 |
| Unit Operating Cost: | |||
| Mining Cost per total ton material | $1.06 | $1.09 | $1.44 |
| Mining Cost per processed ore ton | $4.25 | $4.50 | $3.91 |
| Milling Cost per processed ore ton | $4.59 | $4.59 | $4.60 |
| Roaster Cost per processed ore ton | $0.57 | $0.53 | $0.42 |
| Laboratory Cost per processed ore ton | $0.07 | $0.07 | $0.07 |
| Site G&A Cost per processed ore ton | $0.72 | $0.71 | $0.64 |
| Shipping Cost per processed ore ton | $0.15 | $0.08 | $0.02 |
| Total cost per processed ore ton | $10.35 | $10.48 | $9.65 |
| Average Cost Per Pound Molybdenum: | |||
| Operating Cost | $6.28 | $6.86 | $7.90 |
| Royalties Cost | $0.72 | $0.76 | $0.80 |
| Cost Applicable to Sales | $7.00 | $7.62 | $8.70 |
| Metals Price assumptions: | Base Case | Low Case | High Case |
| Molybdenum (price per pound) | $15.00 | $12.50 | $17.50 |
| After Tax Project IRR | 19.1% | 11.6% | 25.3% |
| After Tax NPV at 8% Discount Rate ($Millions) | $953 | $278 | $1,589 |
| Payback (years) | 4.1 | 5.5 | 3.1 |
Figures 2 & 3: NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Mt. Hope Project – NPV Sensitivities (100% basis)
| Change of NPV8 | Parameter Change | Parameter Change | Impact from Parameter Decrease | Impact from Parameter Increase | Impact from Parameter Decrease | Impact from Parameter Increase |
| $million | $million | Minus | Plus | |||
| Sustaining Capital | -20% | 20% | 39 | -39 | 4% | -4% |
| Capital | -10% | 10% | 80 | -81 | 8% | -8% |
| Operating Cost | -10% | 10% | 215 | -217 | 23% | -23% |
| Mill Recovery | -5% | 5% | -195 | 195 | -20% | 20% |
| Ore Grade | -5% | 5% | -195 | 195 | -20% | 20% |
| Molybdenum Price | -20% | 20% | -794 | 764 | -83% | 80% |
Figure 4: NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study, Mt. Hope Project – NPV Sensitivity of a Rising Moly Price (100% basis)
