Published: May 30, 2018 |

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Poly Met Mining Inc. has filed an updated technical report with Canadian and U.S. securities agencies that reaffirms the economic and technical viability of the NorthMet copper-nickel-precious metals project located near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota.

The updated NorthMet Technical Report, NI 43-101, contains plans and cost estimates for construction and operation of the NorthMet Project. It updates a definitive feasibility study originally published in 2006 and last updated in 2012 and amended in 2013 that details the economics for the mine and processing operation.

The report provides technical and economic details for development of the mining operation in two distinct phases. Phase I involves development of 225 million tons – nearly one-third of NorthMet’s known resource – into an operating mine processing 32,000 tons per day over a 20-year mine life. It also includes rehabilitating the former LTV Steel Mining Company processing plant.

Capital costs for Phase I are estimated at $945 million and include refurbishment of the existing primary crushing circuit and replacing the existing rod and ball mill circuits with a new, modern semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill, ball mill and flotation circuit. It also includes rail upgrades, mining equipment and a state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant.

Phase II involves construction and operation of a hydrometallurgical plant to treat nickel sulfide concentrates into upgraded nickel-cobalt hydroxide and recover additional copper and platinum-group metals. While development of Phase II will be at the company’s discretion, both phases are currently being permitted and are included in the Final Environmental Impact Statement and draft permits. Phase II would increase the project’s capital costs by approximately $259 million.

“This report reaffirms the technical and financial viability of the 32,000 tpd case for which the final EIS and draft permits have been issued. Our focus remains on obtaining final permits under the 32,000 tpd permit case, meeting our environmental and financial assurance obligations under the terms of those permits, and obtaining the necessary financing to build the project. We are making significant progress on all of those fronts,” said Jon Cherry, president and CEO.

“We felt it important to quantify at a preliminary level what the potential economics of the entire NorthMet resource could be as we move forward with plans for the 32,000 tpd case,” added Cherry.

“We have already invested 13 years and more than $300 million in this project — most of that spent in Minnesota — and we are now poised to bring nearly $1 billion in new investment, hundreds of new jobs, and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual economic benefits for the region. We know how important this project is to the Iron Range and we have to do it right,” concluded Cherry.

To read more details in the company’s press release, CLICK HERE

About PolyMet
PolyMet Mining Corp. is a publicly traded mine development company that owns 100 percent of Poly Met Mining, Inc., a Minnesota corporation that controls 100 percent of the NorthMet copper-nickel-precious metals ore body through a long-term lease and owns 100 percent of the former LTV Steel Mining Company site, a large processing facility located approximately six miles from the ore body in the established mining district of the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. The NorthMet final environmental impact statement was published in November 2015, preparing the way for decisions on permit applications. NorthMet is expected to require approximately two million hours of construction labor, create approximately 360 long-term jobs directly, and generate a level of activity that will have a significant multiplier effect in the local economy.

To stop by PolyMet’s website, CLICK HERE

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