Vancouver-based Constantine Metal Resources will spend US$18 million to develop its Palmer copper-zinc-gold-silver project in Alaska in 2022.
Constantine will complete the construction of the final one-kilometre stretch of its underground portal access road.
The company will also build facilities for its updated wastewater design discharge system. Constantine is currently awaiting approval on new design documents. The approval also depends on documents from the continuing hydrological studies of the area surrounding the mine.
Constantine will also build a miners' camp, which will house between 50 and 60 employees.
The funds will also be used for a surface drilling programme that will test the offset of the large South Wall deposit, as well as other exploration targets. Constantine is interested in the Terminus and Jasper Mountain targets, which are accessible from the planned underground development.
Underground exploration activity is expected to begin next year.
"The conceptual aspects of the current preliminary economic assessment, with its guidelines for future work, will be replaced with much more detailed on-site and off-site studies and cost estimates in a feasibility study," chief executive Garland MacVeigh said.
The work will be funded by joint venture partner Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska.
The Palmer deposit is estimated to hold indicated resources 4.68 million tonnes at 5.23% zinc, 1.49% copper, 30.8 g/t of silver, 0.3 g/t of gold, and 23.9% barium sulphate. The AG Zone deposit contains inferred resources of 4.26 million tonnes at 4.64% zinc. 0.12% copper, 0.96% lead, 119.5 g/t of silver, 0.53 g/t of gold and 34.8% barium sulphate.
