Name of the Project
Tower and Rail copper project.

Location
Flin Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt, in the Snow Lake area of central Manitoba, in Canada.

Project Owner/s
Rockcliff Metals Corp.

Project Description
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the project has determined that the project has technical and financial merit.

It envisages average steady-state copper equivalent production of 18 600 t/y.

The PEA envisions developing the Tower deposit in parallel with the refurbishment of the leased Bucko mill facility, followed by the development of the Rail deposit, resulting in a combined life-of-mine of seven years, with exploration upside at both properties.

The mine design focuses on responsible reuse of capital at the Rail deposit to enhance economics of successive mine development projects. Stopes will be mined as large, mechanised shrinkage stopes, with maximum use of automation and an effective bulk materials handling system.

The primary mining method selected is a variation of a mechanised shrinkage mining method with narrow-vein sublevel longitudinal longhole stoping.

The PEA is based on metal concentration at the Bucko Mill. The design is based on using as much of the existing Bucko mill equipment and infrastructure as possible, while adapting the mill from a nickel concentrator to a conventional copper/zinc separation flowsheet. The recovery process is identical for Tower and Rail materials, although the Tower deposit mineralised material will be processed through the concentrator first, followed by the feed from the Rail Deposit.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
At the base case the project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $115-million and an internal rate of return of 41%, with a payback of 2.1 years.

Capital Expenditure
Preproduction capital is estimated at $95-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Additional work has been identified pertaining to addressing the main project risks, as well as furthering the fieldwork, metallurgical testwork, mining, infrastructure engineering studies and financing required to advance the project.

Rockcliff plans to review and explore the geological potential of the Tower and Rail properties for additional resources, including the T3 anomaly and Rail extension targets.

Outside the project area, Rockcliff will continue to develop the hub-and-spoke strategy by examining the potential at the Bur, Last Hurrah and Copperman Properties.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Bestech (process plan, electrical and information technology capital and operating costs, design and costs of utilities and infrastructure, including on-site roads); Stantec (mining capital and operating costs, mine and infrastructure design, mine development and construction, mobile fleet selection and cutoff grade); P&E Mining Consultants (geological modelling, mineral resource estimates, quality assurance and control on geological drilling and logging); Aecom (hydrogeology, environmental studies, permitting and closure costs, regulatory context, social considerations and anticipated environmental issues and tailings assessment); Wilsolve (metallurgical testwork development and analysis, mass balance and process plant design and major process equipment selection); and RockEng (geological site characterisation, ground support requirements, crown pillar design, sill and rib pillar design, and evaluation of mining methods).

Contact Details for Project Information
Rockcliff Metals Corp, tel +1249805 9020 or email contact@rockcliffmetals.com.