Consolidated Woodjam Copper (WCC.V) has announced last week that Gold Fields (NYSE:GFI) released an updated resource estimate for the Woodjam Copper Project in British Columbia.
The Southeast zone currently contains in excess of 1.5B lbs of copper at an average grade of 0.31% Cu. The Deerhorn zone currently consists of almost 33Mt at an average grade of 0.49g/t gold and 0.22%Cu for a total resource of almost 160Mlbs of copper and a little bit over half a million ounces of gold.
Gold Fields currently has vested a 51% interest in the project, and can earn up to 70% by completing $20M in exploration expenditures and completing a feasibility on Woodjam South.
The resource estimate doesn’t excite us, as the pit shells were based on a gold price of $1650/oz and a copper price of $3.90/lbs. On top of that, the grades are quite low. The rock value at the Southeast Zone is less than $22/tonne at a 100% recovery, so the recoverable rock value will be lower than $20/tonne, so it looks like this project needs much higher commodity prices to become economical.
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Disclosure: The author has no position. Please see our disclaimer for current positions.
