Orvana Minerals' Copperwood mining project in the U.P. has produced better results than the company first expected from feasibility tests.
Orvana USA, the Toronto-based company's U.S. subsidiary, announced a new resource estimate for their copper mine project near White Pine, nearly 50 percent higher than their last estimate in September of 2010--and they had already found several times the amount previously mined in the area.
Bill Williams, president of Orvana USA, says this will mean that the feasibility studies will go through more quickly than they first thought.
"This estimate increased M&I (measured and indicated) tonnage by over 50 percent, and contained copper by about 40 percent as compared to that used for the September preliminary economic assessment," Williams says.
The new assessment has measured both copper and silver at the Copperwood site, showing a total of 30.1 million metric tonnes between what has been measured and what is additionally indicated by the measurements.
These studies will be the basis for the mine plans, to be released along with the studies in June. The company also said in December there may be up to 36.1 million more tonnes in the area surrounding the first copper mine, which will be evaluated after the mine is operating. Orvana says the structure of the deposits will lend themselves to underground, room-and-pillar style mining.
Orvana struck copper about 18 miles west of the former White Pine mine near Ontonagon, which produced about 2 million tonnes of copper between 1953 and 1996 before closing and leaving much of the town vacant.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Bill Williams, Orvana USA
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