The study estimates a mine life of 14 years, during which it is projected to produce 903,000 tonnes (t) of copper. Credit: Ziadi Lotfi/Shutterstock.

US Copper Corp has announced the results of a PEA for its wholly owned Moonlight-Superior Copper Project in north-east California.

The PEA indicates a promising economic outlook for the project, with a net present value (NPV) of $1.08bn, based on current resource estimates, and an initial capital investment of $956m with a payback period of 5.3 years.

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The PEA was conducted by GRE, which was retained by US Copper to prepare a technical report on the Moonlight-Superior Mine Project.

The project is situated within the Lights Creek District, approximately 10 miles (16.1km) north-east of Greenville, California, and around 100 miles north-west of Reno, Nevada.

The study estimates a mine life of 14 years, during which it is projected to produce 903,000t of copper (Cu), 12 million ounces of silver (Ag) and 63,000oz of gold (Au).

US Copper CEO Stephen Dunn said: “The Moonlight-Superior PEA confirms the substantial economic opportunity at current copper prices that can be realised through the development of a series of open-pit mines on the property.

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“Moonlight-Superior is one of only a few large-scale undeveloped copper deposits in the United States that is wholly owned by a junior exploration company, and our intention is to use these results to attract a joint venture partner as we proceed to the pre-feasibility stage.

“There will also be significant benefits for the community and local economy with the development of this project. Life of mine taxes are estimated at over $600m and beyond the capital and labour intensive construction phase, we anticipate that there will be more than 300 full time jobs created at the mine site with a peak annual payroll in the range of $35m.”

The oxide and transition mineralisation are expected to yield 81,500t of Cu from heap leach facilities, while the sulphide mineralisation is set to produce 822,000t of Cu, along with all the Ag and Au from flotation facilities.

Mine plans for the resource areas have been designed using conventional open-pit mining methods, with phased designs suitable for the open-pit areas.

The plan aims to deliver an average of 60,000t of sulphide material to the mill daily, alongside 10,000t of oxide and transition material to the heap leach per day. The average daily waste production rate over the mine’s lifespan is projected to be 73,000t.