Caserones

Location
Tierra Amarilla, Atacama, Chile

Operator
Lumina Copper (Lundin Mining / JX Metals)

Commodity
Copper-Molybdenum

Royalty
Effective 0.8306% NSR

The Caserones open pit mine is developed upon a significant porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit in the Atacama Region of the northern Chilean Andean Cordillera, 162 kilometers southeast of the city of Copiapó, at an approximate elevation of 4,300 meters above sea level. The mine has been in operation since 2014 and is owned and operated by SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile SpA. Lundin Mining acquired 70% stake in SCM Minera Lumina Copper Chile SpA, the remaining 30% is held by JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation.

Caserones is located at the southern end of the well documented Maricunga mineral belt and comprises an Early-Miocene porphyry system associated with a cluster of dacite porphyries and breccias intruding Palaeozoic granitic, volcanic, and metamorphic rocks. Caserones has a well-developed supergene enrichment profile of oxide copper and secondary chalcocite that overlies hypogene sulfide (chalcopyrite-molybdenite) mineralization.

Caserones produces copper and molybdenum concentrates from a conventional crusher, mill and flotation plant, as well as copper cathodes from a dump leach, solvent extraction and electrowinning plant. In 2023 the mine produced 118,252 tons of fine copper in concentrate, 4,642 tons of fine molybdenum in concentrate, and 18,883 tons of fine copper in cathodes. The Caserones open pit has operated with an average waste:ore strip ratio of 0.56, along with excellent exploration potential. 

Lundin Mining believes significant exploration potential exists within the over 58,500 hectares of their Caserones land package in the highly prospective Vicuña District.

Lundin Mining has filed a technical report in July 2023 titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Caserones Mining Operation Caserones Project Atacama Region, Chile” (Effective Date: 31 Dec 2022, Report Date: 13 July 2023). The resource and reserves have been since updated in December 2023 and are below:

Mineral Resource Estimate

1. Mineral Resources have an effective date of 31 December 2022, updated December 31, 2023

2. Mineral Resources are presented on a 100% basis.

3. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability

4. The Qualified Person for the mineral resource estimate is Mr. Paul Daigle, P.Geo a Principal Resource Geologist with AGP Mining Consultants Inc

5. The Mineral Resources were estimated using the CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves, as prepared by the CIM Standing Committee and adopted by CIM Council

6. Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves

7. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate

8. Totals may not sum due to rounding as required by reporting guidelines

9. Open pit Mineral Resources are reported within optimized constraining shell

10. Open pit cut-off grade is 0.13% CuT

Mineral Reserve Statement

1. The Mineral Reserves have an effective date of 31 December 2022 updated December 31, 2023 and are reported at the point of delivery to the process plant. The Qualified Person responsible for the estimate is Mr. Kirk Hanson, P.E., Principal Mining Engineer with AGP Mining Consultants Inc.

2. Mineral Reserves are reported within a design pit based on an optimized Lerchs–Grossmann pit shell. Input parameters include the following: long term copper price of US$3.65/lb and long term molybdenum price of US$11.45/lb; a 2.88% net smelter return (NSR) royalty rate; average life-of-mine (LOM) mining cost of US$2.32/t mined, average LOM copper concentrate processing cost of US$8.20/t processed, average LOM general and administrative (G&A) costs of US$3.83/t processed and average desalinated water cost of $0.75/t processed; average LOM molybdenum concentrate processing cost of US$24.93/t of concentrate; average LOM dump leach cost of $1.47/t placed; bench face angles that range from 60–70º; fixed metallurgical recoveries of 82.7%, 53.7%, and 60% for copper concentrate, copper dump leach, and molybdenum concentrate respectively. Cut-off grades are based on block values with positive value blocks classified as ore. Dilution and ore loss are accounted for in the resource model blocks, and no additional ore loss or dilution is applied.

3. Mineral Reserves are presented on a 100% basis. MLCC owns the Project. LMC beneficially holds a 70% interest in MLCC and JX beneficially holds the remaining 30% interest in MLCC.

4. Tonnages are metric tonnes rounded to the nearest 100,000. Copper grade is rounded to the nearest 0.01 % Copper. CuT (Kt) are estimates of metal contained in tonnages and do not include allowances for processing losses. Contained copper is reported as kilo tonnes, rounded to the nearest 1,000.

5. Rounding of tonnes and contained metal content as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent differences between tonnes, grade and contained metal content.

Caserones Mineral Resource estimates are reported within conceptual pit shell using a cut-off grade of 0.13% copper. Mineral Reserves for the Caserones open pit are estimated using open pit discard NSR cut-off values of $11.70/t for ore processed at concentrating and $3.65/t for ore delivered to the heap leach and SX/EW processing.

Mineral Reserves are reported using the 2014 CIM Definition Standards.

Mineral Reserves are reported based on calculated block values with blocks routed to the process that generates the greatest revenue. In the case where material does not generate positive revenue in either of the processes (dump leach or concentrator), it is routed as waste.

Also see EMX Company news releases dated August 17, 2021; September 3, 2021; September 14, 2021;  April 14, 2022; and June 9, 2022 for more information.

Note: Caserones is considered by EMX to be a material property. 

Photos

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge