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Wallbridge Mining

Sudbury-based junior miner Wallbridge Mining Company expects to have its first mine, the Broken Hammer project, in production by the end of June.
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Attila Pentek, a senior project geologist with Wallbridge, maps the company's Wisner property.

Sudbury-based junior miner Wallbridge Mining Company expects to have its first mine, the Broken Hammer project, in production by the end of June.

Established in 1996 to explore and develop platinum group metals, copper and nickel mineral projects in the Sudbury basin, Wallbridge has since become Sudbury's third largest mining property landholder.

Only mining giants Vale and Glencore Xstrata Plc own more mining properties in the Sudbury basin.

Wallbridge expects to extract around 195,000 tonnes of in-pit copper, nickel and platinum group elements from its open-pit mine at Broken Hammer.

Sudbury contractor William Day Construction Ltd., will handle construction of the mine, and the ore will be transported to Northern Sun's Redstone facility in Timmins, where it will be processed.

Marz Kord, Wallbridge's president and CEO, said once the mine is in full production, trucks will transport 800 tonnes of ore per day to Timmins.

“It's actually a whole lot less than what is transported in Sudbury from various mines to the mill,” Kord said.

“This is not going to be a company-maker,” he added. “Broken Hammer is only a one-year operation.”

The company has estimated the net value of the Broken Hammer project to be around $6 million. After costs, that value is adjusted to $5 million.

Royalty company Callinan Royalties provided Wallbridge with $2 million in capital to kick-start the project.

Broken Hammer's modest revenues will allow Wallbridge to expand its exploration projects in the Sudbury basin. Thanks to a number of joint ventures with larger mining companies, Wallbridge has $5.1-million pooled for exploration with its drilling program.

The Broken Hammer project, said Kord, will also give the company valuable experience moving from exploration to mine production.

“We are certainly very optimistic that there is more to be discovered in Sudbury,” Kord said.

The Broken Hammer project, he said, could potentially be expanded at depth and to the west.

The open-pit mine sits at the centre of a 10-kilometre long strike length along Wallbridge's Wisner property.

Platinum group elements represent about 40 per cent of the mine's ore value, and copper represents an additional 30 per cent of the value.

Platinum group elements, which primarily include platinum and palladium, are important components for catalytic converters in vehicles and fuel cells.

Joshua Bailey, Wallbridge's vice-president of exploration, said he estimates around 20 million ounces of platinum group elements have been discovered in the Sudbury basin over the last 20 years.

South Africa and Russia are the world's top platinum group element producers, but Sudbury has turned out to be a North American leader for the metals.

Kord said labour unrest in South Africa, where 70 per cent of platinum group element metals are mined, could lead to more scarcity and improved value.

“One of our strategies has always been to be in the friendly jurisdictions in North America,” he said. “Sudbury has been a great place for us because it is a premiere mining district in North America.”

On the mining side, the Broken Hammer project is expected to create 35 to 40 jobs through contractors. Northern Sun is expected to hire more than 30 employees in Timmins to handle the milling side of the operation.

While Broken Hammer is Wallbridge's most advanced project, the company has a number of properties that show promise.

Wallbridge has collaborated with Lonmin PLC, the world's third largest platinum producer, since 2002.

The North Range joint venture with Lonmin was finalized in 2012. The project includes 15 properties in a 15-square-kilometre area. The 2013 North Range joint venture program concluded in September of that year, and had an approved budget of $1.1 million to explore the properties for platinum group elements.

According to the terms of Wallbridge's agreement with Lonmin, the latter company can earn up to a 50 per cent interest in the project if it spends twice Wallbridge's expenditures on the properties.

By making additional expenditures Lonmin can earn up to a 65 per cent interest in the properties.

Wallbridge has also collaborated with Impala Holdings Ltd., the world's second largest platinum producer, on the Parkin Offset joint venture. The project includes exploration along the northeastern rim of the Sudbury basin, where there are deposits of platinum group elements, nickel and copper.

The region includes the former Milnet Mine. In 2012, Wallbridge and Impala drilled two holes in the Milnet 1500 zone to analyze the deposits and determine the scope of work for 2013.

Impala spent $6.2 million to earn a 50 per cent interest in the property in 2011. The company can earn an additional 15 per cent interest by funding a feasibility study and securing Wallbridge's portion of development funding to commercial production through loans.

But at the end of the day “exploration is a risky business,” Kord said.

With the Broken Hammer project, the junior miner should at least have a small reserve to help mitigate that risk.