PolarX Ltd. Oct. 3 announced that it has initiated a metallurgical testing program focused on improving copper recovery and concentrate grades at Caribou Dome, as well as gold recovery at Zackly, which could improve the economics of establishing a mine on its Alaska Range project.

Lying about 175 miles (280 kilometers) northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, the Alaska Range project is a roughly 22-mile- (35 kilometers) long land package that covers multiple copper, gold, and silver targets. The two most advanced projects on this property are Caribou Dome, a high-grade carbonate-hosted copper deposit, and Zackly, a skarn deposit about 15 miles (24 kilometers) to the northeast.

According to a calculation completed in June, Caribou Dome hosts 7.2 million metric tons of measured, indicated, and inferred resources averaging 3.1% (224,375 metric tons) copper and 6.5 grams per metric ton (1.5 million oz) silver.

Zackly hosts an additional 4 million metric tons of indicated and inferred resources averaging 1.1% (45,000 metric tons) copper, 1.6 g/t (213,000 oz) gold, and 12.6 g/t (1.6 million oz) silver.

A scoping study completed in August outlines plans for a 750,000-metric-ton-per-year centralized mill developed next to Caribou Dome that would process ore mined from an open-pit mine at Caribou Dome followed by an underground mine at Zackly.

This proposed dual mine operation at the Alaska Range project is expected to produce 138,446 metric tons of copper, 102,577 oz of gold, and 1.46 million oz of silver over 9.5 years of mining.

This operation is estimated to generate a pre-tax net present value (7% discount) of US$201 million, an internal rate of return of 38.4%, and a capital payback period of 2.75 years.

The scoping level study, which assumed a 78% copper recovery rate from Caribou Dome ore, found that even modest increases in this recovery rate and concentrate grades could yield the most substantial increases to the proposed mining operation's NPV.

To pursue increased metal recoveries and the potential improved mine economics that would come with them, PolarX has collected 165 samples from Caribou Dome drill core for further metallurgical testing.

PolarX Ltd.

Key metrics from the updated Alaska Range scoping study.

PolarX believes that copper recoveries can be significantly improved by supplementing conventional crushing, grinding, and flotation with hydrometallurgical recovery. As such, the company has engaged Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc., which has commercial hydrometallurgical expertise, to manage the test work and provide cost estimates for a revised mineral processing flowsheet.

Preliminary results from this metallurgical program are expected early in 2024.

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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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