Anglesey Mining plc (LON:AYM) expects costs to be down and output to be up in studies evaluating the economic potential of a base metals mine at its Parys Mountain project in Wales.
The company stated in May that earlier models were being modified to examine increased throughput alternatives at 700 and 1,000 tonnes per day, as against the 500 tonnes per day used initially.
Between them, the company’s two consultants, Micon and Fairport, are at this stage indicating that the project could be effectively modelled using reduced operating costs and increased annual production.
It was previously expected that an increased annual production rate would usually result in a significant increase in capital costs. Whilst it is expected that there will be some increase in capital costs these are likely to be less than previously expected and together with the production and operating cost adjustments should justify the increased production approach.
Anglesey’s current plan is that the results of the scoping study will be announced ahead of the publication of the Annual Report and Accounts this month.
The current JORC Code compliant resource estimate for Parys Mountain stands at 2.1 million tonnes at 6.9% combined base metals in the indicated category and 4.1 million tonnes at 5.0% combined base metals in the inferred category.