A preliminary economic assessment on Cardero Resource Corp.'s Zonia copper oxide deposit in Arizona defined a posttax net present value, discounted at 8%, of US$192 million, with a 29% internal rate of return and a 2.89-year payback period.
The proposed open pit mine is expected to produce an average 49.1 million pounds of copper per year for 8.6 years for a total of 421.5 million pounds during the life of the mine, according to a March 6 news release.
Initial CapEx is estimated at US$198 million, and sustaining CapEx is pegged at US$40.8 million.
The mine is expected to use a conventional copper acid heap leach system, and mill throughput is anticipated at 30,000 short tons per day.
The study incorporates measured and indicated resources totaling 76.8 million tons grading 0.33% copper for 510 million pounds of copper and inferred resources of 27.2 million tons grading 0.28% copper for 154.6 million pounds. The estimate was completed in 2017 and uses a 0.2% copper cutoff.
Cardero Resource recently defined a new porphyry copper target 3 kilometers northeast of the Zonia deposit using geochemical sampling, and results from a geophysical survey are pending.
The company holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Zonia property from Redstone Resources Corp. under a 2015 agreement.
