Highland Copper announces positive PEA for White Pine North project

Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV: HI) announced on Monday results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and a mineral resource estimate for the White Pine North copper project, located in the historical copper range district of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The PEA provides a base case assessment of mining the mineral resources of the White Pine project. It considers White Pine North as a standalone project and utilizes existing infrastructure to minimize initial capital expenditures, currently estimated at $457 million.

The PEA is highlighted by an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $416 million (at 8% discount), as well as an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.8%.

The project contains an indicated mineral resource of 133.4 million tonnes at 1.07% Cu and 14.9 g/t Ag, containing 3.2 billion pounds of copper and 63.8 million ounces of silver. Annual payable copper and silver production could reach 89 million pounds and 1.3 million ounces respectively over a 25-year mine life.

The White Pine North project is the extension of the historical White Pine mine that operated from 1953 to 1995.