Grid compared to Snow Lake Lithium Snow Lake recently published a preliminary economic assessment for their proposed lithium mine in northern Manitoba and 266p report is available on their website. The Snow Lake and Donner ore bodies are virtually the same (see below), consisting of subvertical pegmatite dykes, a few meters in thickness, that will see mostly underground mining. However, Donner is already road accessible and processing will occur at existing mills, so capital costs should be much less (see below) and timeframe for development should be shorter. Cost below for upgrading the True North mill ($10mm) is only a guess, but more detailed info should be available from Primero Engineering next month.
| | Donner | Snow Lake |
| | | |
| Tonnes (mm) | 6.8 (2.1 open pit) | 8.2 (0.6 open pit) |
| Grade % Li2O | 1.39 | 1.1 |
| Li2O (mm kg) | 95,000 | 90,000 |
| | | |
| Initial Capital Costs (US$ mm) |
| Pre-production1 | 19 | 19 |
| Mining fleet1 | 32 | 32 |
| Ore sorting1 | 7 | 7 |
| Mill | 172 | 42 |
| Road1 | 1 | 1 |
| Power line | nil | 18 |
| Bridges | nil | 15 |
| | | |
| Closure Costs | 10 | 10 |
| | | |
| Total capital costs (mm $US) | $86 | $146 |
| | | |
| Operating Costs | | |
| $/t mined1 | 33 | 33 |
| Ore sorting ($/t mined)1 | 2 | 2 |
| Mill processing ($/t milled) | 23.53 | 16 |
| Transport ($/t milled) | 304 | 15 |
| Admin ($/t milled)1 | 2 | 2 |
| Total (US$/t milled) | 90.5 | 68 |
| Revenue | | |
| Li2O @6 % (US $/t) | $3500 | $3500 |
| Gross $/t milled @80% recov | $649 | $513 |
| Net $/t milled @80% recov | $559 | $445 |
| Milling rate t/d | ? | 2500 |
| Revenue ($US/yr) | ? | $430 mm |
| Cash flow ($US/yr) | ? | $355 mm |
| | | |
| NPV post tax @ 7% US$ | | 1.2 B |
| IRR % | | 170% |
| Payback | | 1.2 yr |
| | | |
| Market capitalization (US$) | $17mm | $32mm |
| | | |
1) Donner costs assumed the same as Snow Lake
2) Includes total lease payments to 1911 Gold over 10 yr period ($7mm) and assumed cost for upgrading True North mill ($10 mm).
3) Milling costs assumed same as Snow Lake plus $7.50/t toll milling fee paid to 1911 Gold
4) Transport costs assumed same as Snow Lake plus $15/t for ore transport to True North mill (82km).