Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/937377
F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 55 reduction in cash costs and all-in sustain- ing costs by approximately 7%, compared with the existing 9.5 million tonne-per- year operation, based on maintenance and processing efficiencies. Subject to financing and permitting, it is anticipated that ground construction works will start during the first quarter of 2018, with commissioning scheduled for the second half of 2019 and nomi- nal production during the first half of 2020. Management expects that the expansion project will result in an incre- mental after-tax net present value (NPV) of approximately US $113-million (assum- ing an 8% discount rate) and an after-tax IRR of about 43% assuming a copper price of US $3/lb, silver at US $18/oz and a US-dollar/euro exchange rate of 1.15. The expansion comprises modernization of the process plant with the installation of a new primary crushing system, a new SAG (semi-autogenous grinding) mill, additional flotation cells and concentrate handling installations, as well as other site infrastructure. Avrupa Minerals Ltd. [AVU-TSXV; AVPMF-OTC; 8AM-FSE] reports that exploration is ongoing at several projects in Portugal, and the summer program in Kosovo has been completed. Partners are funding two projects in Portugal: The Alvito iron-copper-gold project with OZ Minerals and the Covas tungsten proj- ect with Blackheath Resources Inc. In Kosovo, Byrnecut International, through JV company Peshter Mining JSC, is operat- ing the Slivovo gold project where 18 drill holes have been completed in the Peshter target area, for 6,280 metres. In May 2016, Avrupa reported a NI 43-101 compliant indicated mineral resource of 640,000 tonnes grading 4.80 g/t gold and 14.68 g/t silver, for 98,700 ounces of gold and 302,000 ounces of sil- ver at Slivovo. Avrupa is preparing an updated study of the historic São Domingos Mine at the 100%-owned Mertola copper-zinc project in southern Portugal. At the 100%- owned Marateca copper-zinc project in southern Portugal, the company's recent scout drilling demonstrated continuity of mineralization down dip from the gos- san outcrops. Planning is underway for geological and geochemical surveys at the Metovit silver-lead-zinc project in Kosovo. Avrupa is reviewing new projects in Germany, Kosovo, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe. Black Iron Inc. [BKI-TSX; BKIRF-OTC] has filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report entitled Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Re-scoped Shymanivske Iron Ore Deposit effective November 21, 2017 for its Shymanivske iron ore project located in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine. The project is surrounded by five producing iron ore mines. The re-scoped PEA is based on a two-phased build-out of the mine and production plant with the first phase oper- ation producing 4 million tonnes per year of ultra high-grade 68% iron concentrate expanding to 8 million tonnes per year starting in the fifth year of production. Building the mine in phases signifi- cantly reduces the up-front construction costs, thus increasing the projected returns. The Shymanivske Project has favourable projected economics being near major infrastructure including, railway, electrical power and a deep-sea port. A long-term iron ore benchmark price of US $61.88/tonne for products contain- ing 62% iron was used in the re-scoped PEA and adjusted using the three-month average trailing spot iron premium of US $7.21 per 1% Fe above 62% as of November 7, 2017. Based on this pricing, the project would have a pre-tax unlevered IRR of 42.6% and a NPV of US $2,115 million using a 10% discount rate. The after-tax unlevered IRR using this price and premium is 36.1% and NPV is US $1,662 million. The company's mining per- mit is valid until 2024. The PEA is backed by some 37,000 metres of historical drilling. There is poten- tial for resource expansion with further drilling at depth. Measured and indicated resources of iron ore stand at 646 million tonnes with 188 million tonnes inferred. Matt Simpson, Black Iron's CEO, said, "The long-term price used in the re- scoped PEA is lower than the December month to date average price of US $69.95/ tonne as reported by Metal Bulletin, results in significant investor return projections. Further, once debt leverage is added, the projected returns should further increase." Boreal Metals Corp. [BMX-TSXV] is conducting a 2,500-metre drill program at its 100%-owned Gumsberg licence in Sweden. The company, which began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange November 21, is focused on the discovery of zinc, copper, silver and gold deposits in four exceptional historic mining project areas spanning Sweden and Norway. The strategically situated Gumsberg Project consists of six exploration licences in the Bergslagen mining district of south- ern Sweden totaling over 18,300 hectares, where multiple zones of volcanogenic-mas- sive-sulphide-style mineralization occur. The VMS mineralization at Gumsberg was mined from the 13th century through the early 1900s, with over 30 historic mines present on the property, most notably the Ostrasilvberg Mine which was the largest silver mine in Sweden between 1250 and 1590. Relatively little modern exploration has taken place on the project. Drilling is targeting three prospective high-grade VMS mineral trends includ- ing Ostrasilvberg, Vallberget-Loberget and Gumsgruvan. Each of these silver-zinc- lead trends contain historical drilling from the 1930s and 1970s and mining activities that can be traced to medieval times. According to a Boliden annual report, Garpenberg has a proven resource of 19.7 million tonnes of 99 g/t silver, 0.3 g/t gold, 0.04% copper, 1.6% lead and 3.8% zinc, and a probable resource of 56.7 million tonnes of 96 g/t silver, 0.3 g/t gold, 0.05% copper, 1.4% lead and 2.9% zinc. Approximately 28 to 35 million tonnes of ore were produced from the Falun Mine grading between 0.5% to 5% zinc, 0.1% to LEFT: The Nevsun Resources Timok copper-gold project in the Bor region of Serbia. Photo courtesy Nevsun Resources Ltd. EUROPE