It will cost $1.9 million to build an open-pit mine at the Broken Hammer property in Sudbury owned by Wallbridge Mining Company, according to a prefeasibility study released Oct. 16.
The study estimates a production rate of 750 tonnes of ore per day for an estimated mine life of 12 months.
The cost to operate the mine, including startup development, totals $25.95 million, or $131.99 per tonne of ore. The study proposes treating the ore at a custom mill facility.
The Broken Hammer mineral resource estimates 196,600 tonnes of ore with 0.92 per cent copper, 0.10 per cent nickel, 1.92 g/t platinum, 1.82 g/t palladium, 0.64 g/t gold and 6.02 g/t silver.
"We are very encouraged by the positive results of the prefeasibility study," Marz Kord, president and CEO of Wallbridge Mining, said in a news release. "The prefeasibility suggests that the Broken Hammer project has the potential to become economically viable and generate positive cash flow. What's more encouraging is that the deposit remains open for expansion to the west and to depth."
Broken Hammer is located within a 9-km strike length on the northern rim of the Sudbury basin.