A new study on Hudbay Minerals’100%-owned, $US2.1B initial capex Mason copper project in Nevada, US, envisages a 27-year LoM operation producing an average annual 140,000t of copper over its 1st 10-years of full production.
The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) believes Mason has the potential to more than double Hudbay’s current copper production levels and make it the 3rd largest copper mine in the US.
The mine plan assumes the construction of a 120,000tpd conventional flotation concentrator, with the initial capital costs followed by sustaining annual LoM capex averaging $21M. After-tax NPV10% is estimated at $519M, IRR at 13.7% at $3.10/lb copper and an annual LoM avg EBITDA of $339M, with payback in 9-years.
The mine plan includes 1.1Bt at 0.34% copper equivalent, based on measured/indicated resources of 2.2Bt at 0.29% copper, one of the largest greenfields copper projects in the Americas.