Name of the Project
Parys Mountain copper/zinc/lead/gold/silver project.

Location
Island of Anglesey, in North Wales, in the UK.

Project Owner/s
UK-based mining company Anglesey Mining.

Project Description
The Parys Mountain project hosts a significant polymetallic zinc, copper, lead, silver and gold deposit. The site has a headframe, a 300-m-deep production shaft and planning permission for operations. 

The project’s 2021 PEA includes an updated mineral resource statement showing 5.2-million tonnes of indicated resources at a combined base metal grade of 4.3%, together with 11.7-million tonnes of inferred resources at a combined base metals grade of 2.8%, based on the revised estimated cutoff cost of $48/t. The PEA indicates that Parys Mountain contains more than 160 000 t of copper and almost 400 000 t of combined zinc/lead.

Three separate development alternatives were evaluated in the assessment. 

Case A proposes using only the White Rock and Upper Engine zones, with inferred material included at a planned production rate of 1 500 t/d over a 12-year mine life. 

Case B is similar to Case A, but with some initial production coming from a proposed small opencut operation, producing 1 500 t/d over an 11-year mine life. 

Case C uses all the reported resources in the White Rock and Upper Engine zones, but also includes the inferred resources in the Lower Engine zone, the Garth Daniel zone and the Northern Copper zone, producing 3 000 t/d over a 12-year mine life. 

The expanded Case C was chosen as the most attractive option.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Case A has a pretax net present value (NPV), at a 10% discount rate, of $36.12-million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 19.6%, with a payback of 7.2 years. Case B has a pretax NPV, at a 10% discount rate, of $41.84-million and an IRR of 26.4%, with a payback of  6.1 years.

Case C has a pretax NPV, at a 10% discount rate, of $120.32-million and an IRR of 26%, with a payback of 6.2 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital expenditure for Case A is estimated at $70.44-million, Case B at $57.52-million and Case C at $99.02-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The county council has approved the Parys Mountain mine environmental-impact assessment (EIA) scoping report.

The North Wales Minerals and Waste Planning Service, on behalf of Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn/Anglesey county council, has provided detailed feedback and commentary on each chapter of Anglesey’s submission. The planning service is in broad agreement with the environmental scope as presented by the company.

In line with the feedback received from the council, Anglesey will enhance the scope of its work to ensure that it can be clearly demonstrated that the impact will be overwhelmingly positive, that the historic character of the landscape is sustained, and that the changes resulting from enacting the contemplated planning application are well-informed.

Anglesey has said that there is wide acceptance of the scope of the overall methodology, how the company has characterised potential impacts, and with the avoidance and mitigation of potential impacts in areas such as ecology and biodiversity, visual impact, air quality, noise and vibration, labour and working conditions and human health.

However, there are three areas where there is not broad agreement and further work has been recommended, namely ground and surface water, cultural heritage and traffic and transportation.

In each of these areas, the planning service has directed the company towards experts, historically completed studies and other literature that is readily available. This additional information will be used by Anglesey to enhance and further refine the scope presented.

In terms of the ground and surface water, the company intends and expects that the restart of mining and processing operations will have a net positive impact. This view is informed by feedback previously provided to Anglesey by specialist consultants on this topic.

The recommendations made will be taken on-board by the company, it adds.

Further, for cultural heritage, it is well noted that the scheme being proposed will not directly impact on any statutorily designated sites. However, as Anglesey has described in its submission, the site is situated almost entirely within the Amlwch and Parys Mountain Registered Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest.

The mining and processing of metals and the logistical infrastructure to support those activities, such that used for energy generation and the pumping of water, as well as the physical links to Amlwch Port, dominate the historical fabric of Parys Mountain.

Anglesey believes that the restart of such activities will add to the long history of mining and processing at the site and thus, as reported upon by the Planning Service, will intrinsically have a significant impact on the historic environment, the company notes.

With regard to traffic and transportation, Anglesey will make provision within its plans to conduct a full transport assessment in line with the recommendations made.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Micon International (PEA).

Contact Details for Project Information
Anglesey Mining CEO Bill Hooley,  tel +44778557 2517 or email billhooley@angleseymining.co.uk.
Anglesey Mining FD Danesh Varma, +44774 0 93 2766 or email danesh@angleseymining.co.uk.