Constantine Unveils PEA for Palmer Zinc-Copper Project

Constantine Metal Resources (TSXV:CEM,OTCQX:CNSNF) has released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Palmer zinc-copper–silver–gold project in Alaska.

The asset is a joint venture between Constantine, which owns a majority stake at 51 percent and acts as its operator, and Dowa Metals & Mining, which holds the other 49 percent.

The freshly released PEA lays out financials that include an after-tax net present value of US$266 million at a 7 percent discount rate, a 21 percent post-tax internal rate of return and operating costs of US$54.20 per tonne. Total life of mine capital costs for Palmer are docketed at US$418 million with an estimated 3.3 year post-tax payback period. The operation will have an 11 year life.

According to Constantine, Palmer’s mine and processing plant have been designed to produce 3,500 tonnes per day with life-of-mine recovered metal production being expected to reach 1.068 billion pounds of zinc, 196 million pounds of copper, 18 million ounces of silver, 91,000 ounces of gold and 2.89 million tonnes of barite.

“This PEA is the most significant milestone for Constantine to date, demonstrating a high-quality project with strong economics and a progressive, environmentally conscious mine design,” Constantine President and CEO Garfield MacVeigh said in a statement.

“Quality North American development-stage zinc-copper projects are in scarce supply, particularly projects with high operating margins and resilience to low metal price environments as demonstrated by the Palmer PEA,” he added.

As MacVeigh mentioned, the PEA highlights the steps that have been taken to make Palmer an environmentally responsible asset, with the assessment noting that environment protection and naturally sustainable closure were “integral components” in the mine design.

These features include a low waste to ore ratio, no permanent surface storage of potential acid-generating waste rock or tailings and the planned implementation of cement portal plugs upon closure to seal underground workings and avoid mine water discharge from surfacing.

Going forward, Constantine and Dowa plan to explore options for advancing Palmer while also focusing on resource expansion and searching for additional deposits.

As of Monday (June 3), zinc was trading at US$2,614.50 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

By 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday (June 4), Constantine had jumped 7.14 percent on the TSXV to reach C$0.60.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.