From creston website.
The El Creston molybdenum deposit located in the State of Sonora, 175 kilometres south of the US Border boasts excellent infrastructure with close proximity to power, roads and railway. A semi-desert climate allows for year round development. In addition a custom molybdenum roaster is located approximately 105 kilometres from the property by road.
SRK Consulting completed an independent Resource Update on the El Creston Moly Property in December, 2010. JDS completed the final Mineral Resource summary based upon SRK's block model estimates. The Mineral Resource statement is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: In-pit Mineral Resource Statement*, Creston Moly Project, Mexico, JDS
Energy and Mining Inc., October 26, 2010 | Resource Class | Total Tonnes | Mo (%) | Contained lbs Mo (000's) | Cu (%) | Contained lbs Cu (000's) |
| Measured | 56,300,000 | 0.074% | 91,300 | 0.06% | 72,000 |
| Indicated | 151,100,000 | 0.070% | 244,200 | 0.06% | 209,000 |
| Inferred | 7,600,000 | 0.057% | 9,500 | 0.06% | 9,000 |
| Measured + Indicated | 215,400,000 | 0.071% | 335,500 | 0.06% | 281,000 |
*Reported at a cut-off grade of 0.036% molybdenum-equivalent within a Lerchs-Grossman optimized pit shell. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. All numbers have been rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates.
*Note: Mo equivalent = Mo% + (Cu%/7.5)
JDS Energy & Mining Inc. of Vancouver, BC completed an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the El Creston molybdenum deposit in December 2010. The study estimated production, capital and operating cost parameters and project economics with the primary results listed below.
Highlights of the PEA Base Case include:
- An after tax Net Present Value ("NPV") at an 8% discount rate of $561.9 million;
- An after tax Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of 22.3%;
- Annual processing rate of 50,000 tonnes per day;
- Annual production of 23.9 million pounds of molybdenum in concentrate for the life of mine;
- Annual production of 29.5 million pounds of copper in concentrate for the 7 years of copper production;
- Direct costs, ( inclusive of copper byproduct credits) of $4.12 per pound of Mo;
- An estimated initial capital expenditure of $655.9 million.