RVM Rock Creek in 2018 Mining WeeklyTORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and Amex-listed Revett Minerals is targeting 2018 to start commercial production at its big Rock Creek silver/copper mine in Montana, as it finally sees light at the end of a long litigation process that delayed development.
The company, which already produces both metals from the smaller Troy mine 15 km away, is not looking for buyers for itself or the project though, CEO John Shanahan told Mining Weekly Online after a presentation to analysts and investors in Toronto.
“The difference for us is that if Rock Creek was all we had, and we had six guys sitting doing permitting, of course when it came time to develop we'd be saying 'who wants to talk to us?',” he said.
“But we have experienced people already working at Troy. And we can finance this thing ourselves.”
The Rock Creek mine could produce an average of six million ounces of silver and 52-million pounds of copper a year for as long as 30 years.
Revett received initial approval through a record of decision in 2003 for the project, which, at 229-million ounces of silver and 2-billion pounds of copper, is touted as the largest undeveloped deposit of its kind in North America.
The company has also acquired claims with historical resources surrounding the core project.
However, the former Asarco/Kennecott asset's proximity to a wilderness area has meant that it spent the better part of a decade tied up in legal challenges brought by nongovernmental organisations.
Shanahan believes the lengthy delay is finally nearing a resolution.
In May 2010, a federal judge dismissed the challenges against the project that were based on the Endangered Species Act, Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, but ordered revisions to the record of decision issued for the firm's environmental-impact study because of some procedural issues.
Revett has been working on a supplemental EIS, and expects to have the document ready and receive a new record of decision approving development by mid-2012, Shanahan said.
The groups opposing the project have also appealed the dismissal of their other challenges, and oral arguments for the case were held on July 14.
Decisions can usually be expected between three and 12 months after oral arguments, but Revett's attorneys have indicated they expect a decision from the appeals court before the end of this year.
"My belief is that the timing is going to be we will be breaking ground in the spring of 2013 and we are looking to be in commercial production in 2018," Shanahan said.
The company plans to develop the project in two phases – starting with work on an evaluation adit and completion of a feasibility study, while initial infrastructure and mitigation measures are put in place.
Phase one will take about two years and cost some $15- to $20-million, Shanahan said.
After that, full construction of the 10 000 t/d mine and conventional flotation operation is expected to take three years and will require as much as $300-million in capital.
Silver Wheaton is Revett's biggest shareholder, at around 16%.