North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

BMC Minerals Ltd. Oct. 27 announced that the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board has completed the environmental and socio-economic review of the company's proposal to develop a mine at the ABM silver-zinc deposit on the Kudz Ze Kayah (KZK) project and has recommended that the mine be allowed to proceed to permitting.

"We are very pleased to receive the final screening report following a robust and thorough assessment process with input from all affected parties. We are now preparing the development permit applications which will incorporate the recommendations," said BMC Minerals President Scott Donaldson.

A 2019 feasibility study details a mine at KZK slated to produce an average of 235 million pounds of zinc, 32 million lb copper, 56 million lb lead, 7.8 million ounces silver and 56,500 oz gold annually, over an initial nine-year mine life.

This operation is based on 15.7 million metric tons of probable reserves averaging 5.8% (915,000 metric tons) zinc, 0.9% (135,800 metric tons) copper, 1.7% (265,700 metric tons) lead, 138 grams per metric ton (69.5 million ounces) silver and 1.3 g/t (666,000 oz) gold.

These reserves are found in ABM, one of several base and precious metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits identified in the KZK district, on properties either owned or optioned by BMC Minerals.

The feasibility study envisions a 2-million-metric-ton-per-year operation that mines ore both from an open-pit and underground.

BMC, which was created as the result of a strategic relationship between a team of established mine developers and a major natural resources private equity group, previously anticipated that the ABM Mine would have its first concentrates ready to deliver to world markets by 2022. This timeline is based on the anticipated delivery of the requisite quartz mining license in 2020 and 20 months to build the mine.

The company submitted its mine development proposal to YESAB in 2017, initiating the permitting process for the proposed mine.

BMC Minerals Ltd.

YESAB has submitted a report recommending the mine proceed to permitting to the relevant federal and territorial decision bodies. These regulators will issue BMC decision documents that allows the company to proceed to the final phase of permitting and licensing needed to begin development of the ABM Mine.

"The process of assessment in the Yukon is very rigorous and all Yukoners can have confidence that the development of the ABM Mine would be progressed in accordance with the highest standards," said Donaldson. "We would like to thank the First Nations, regulators, organizations, and individual Yukoners that have provided comment and constructively contributed to the assessment process. BMC looks forward to receipt of the decision document in due course."

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Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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