Anglesey Mining PLC (LON:AYM) told investors that a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is now underway at the Parys Mountain project, in North Wales.
The copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver project is being assessed by contractor Micon International which already has “long experience” with Parys Mountain (spanning as far back as 2006, including a resource estimate in 2012 and a scoping study in 2017).
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This assessment is the next step in the possible development of the project to production and follows optimisation work conducted by QME Mining Technical Services which saw 10mln tonnes of potentially mineable materials at Parys.
Such an opportunity is significantly larger than the 2.1mln of resources that were the basis of Micon’s 2017 study. Anglesey Mining noted that QME also said it should be possible to use a lower cut-off grade for mine planning than used in the 2017 study.
Based on the QME work, it is expected that the envisaged production rate in the scoping study can be expanded and that the prior eight-year life-of-mine can be extended significantly.
A preliminary feasibility study may subsequently be pursued, subject to Micon’s new findings.
"I am very pleased that we are able to announce the appointment of Minco to complete this PEA,” said Bill Hooley, Anglesey chief executive.
“The QME optimisation work has given us a sound basis from which to complete the PEA. We are confident that the results from the PEA will confirm our expectation in the extent of the mineral resources at Parys Mountain, and will demonstrate improved outcomes and a longer mine life beyond those indicated previously.”