September 27, 2011 07:00 ET
Mercator Minerals Announces El Pilar Feasibility Study Results
Estimated Net Present Value of $335 million with less than a 2-year payback
http://www.marketwire.com/press-rel...-feasibility-study-results-tsx-ml-1565640.htm
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 27, 2011) - Mercator Minerals Ltd. (TSX:ML) ("Mercator", or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of an optimized feasibility study ("FS") that confirms the potential development of a robust, large-scale, low-cost copper mine at the El Pilar project, located in the mining friendly jurisdiction within the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
Base Case(1) Highlights
(all amounts in U.S. dollars and metric tonnes unless otherwise indicated)
•Net present value ("NPV") after-tax, discounted at 8%, of $335.3 million;
•Internal rate of return ("IRR"), after-tax, of 35.7%;
•Payback period of 1.7 years;
•Life-of-mine ("LOM") average annual production of 73.0 million pounds of copper cathode, with copper cathode production averaging 78.7 million pounds in the first five years;
•Expected average life of mine total cash operating costs are $1.37 per pound of payable copper, average $1.27 per pound in the first five years, and $0.94 per pound in the first year;
•Initial capital of $245 million, excluding working capital;
•12-year mine life, with total estimated copper production of 881.7 million pounds;
•Mining and stacking of run-of-mine ore at an average LOM rate of 52,000 tonnes per day, 49,000 tonnes per day in the first five years;
•Favorably located relative to existing infrastructure
(1) Base Case at $3.83/lb. copper price per pound Years 0 and 1, $3.44/lb Year 2, $3.14/lb Year 3 and $2.60/lb for the remaining life of mine, averaging $2.82/lb copper over the life of mine. All calculations are Base Case except where otherwise specified.
Bruce McLeod, Mercator's President and CEO comments, "We are very pleased with the results of the optimized feasibility study as it confirms El Pilar as a high return, low risk project. This project represents a significant milestone for Mercator as it brings the potential to transform our company into a low cost mid-tier base metal producer. With the feasibility study complete, the project's next milestone will be to secure debt financing, which is now underway."