Resource World Magazine

34 www.resourceworld.com F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 4 Trevali Mining Corp. [TV-TSX, LMA, TREVF-OTCQX; 4TI-FSE] recently announced that commissioning has commenced at its Santander zinc-lead-silver mine in western Peru. During December 2013, the 2,000 tonne-per-day processing facility demonstrated aver- age head grades of 3.6% zinc, 1.5% lead and 1.4 oz/ton silver. Ore was a blend of underground feed, stockpiled surface material and higher grade re-mined former tailings. Plans call for full underground production feed in first quarter 2014 when the Magistral North (including Rosa Zone) and Central produc - tion stopes are brought fully on-line. A total of approximately 3,900 tonnes of zinc concentrate and 2,300 tonnes of lead-silver concen- trate were delivered and sold during December to partner Glencore Xstrata Plc [GLEN-London]. Glencore built and operates the plant and is contracted to run the underground Santander Mine. Trevali retains a 100% interest in the mine and will repay Glencore for the mill and acquire ownership from the mine's cash flow. Located 215 km northeast of by road from Lima, the mine hosts indicated resources of 6.3 million tonnes grading 3.6% zinc, 1.3% lead and 43 g/t silver. Inferred resources stand at 13.8 million tonnes of 4.6% zinc, 0.4% lead and 21 g/t silver. These resources, which still remain open, are good for at least 15 years of production at 700,000 tonnes per year. Recent underground drilling has intersected new high-grade zones, including the Rosa. The operation features good infrastructure and has a 350-person camp. Trevali Mining has a 100%-controlled interest in the Tingo run- of-river hydroelectric plant 17 km west, down-valley, from the Santander Mine. The present 1.6 MW generating capacity is permit - ted to increase capacity to 8.8 MW. The planned upgrade is expected to cost about US $15 million with power production costs estimated to be $0.03/kWh. The plant is connected to the Peruvian National Energy Grid and could possibly be connected to the Santander Mine and mill to potentially lower operating costs. Also in Peru, Trevali has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the past-producing Huampar underground silver mine. Historic, non-NI-43-101 compliant reserves have been reported to be 874,412 tonnes grading 209 g/t silver, 1.3 g/t gold, 3.63% zinc and 3.31% lead. While past production totals some 2.5 million tonnes averaging 185 g/t silver, 1.6 g/t gold, 5% zinc and 3.8%, no modern exploration has been done. There is also a 400 tpd plant that needs refurbishing. Trevali is planning a drill program to confirm and update the historic resource estimate and test the depth extent of the 7-km long vein system. In Canada, Trevali Mining has three projects in the Bathurst, New Brunswick Mining Camp. Acquired in 2012, the most advanced proj - ect is the fully permitted Caribou Mine with its modern 3,000 tpd processing plant. Although it will cost approximately US $20 million to restart the mill, that is very inexpensive compared to constructing a new mill that would cost some $100 million and take three to four years to build. Measured and indicated NI 43-101 compliant resources at Caribou are estimated to be 7.2 million tonnes grading 7% zinc, 2.9% lead, 84 g/t silver and 0.9 g/t gold. Inferred resources are 3.7 million tonnes of 6.9% zinc, 2.8% lead, 78 g/t silver and 1.2 g/t gold. The silver and gold grades may be under-estimated by up to 20-30% as there were no routine precious metal assays in historic drill holes. The deposit remains open for expansion along strike and to depth. Of note, since there was no copper circuit in the previous opera - tion, copper assays were not routinely done. Trevali plans to install Trevali Mining commissioning Peruvian Santander Mine A new mid-tier zinc miner in the making By Ellsworth Dickson Mark Cruise, Trevali Mining's President and CEO, at the Santander mill in western Peru. Photo courtesy Trevali Mining Corp.

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