Teck Resources and Copper Fox Metals have entered into a joint venture agreement covering the Schaft Creek copper-gold exploration property in northwest British Columbia. Teck will hold a 75% interest and Copper Fox will hold a 25% interest in the joint venture. Teck will be the operator. The new agreement replaces a 2002 option and joint venture agreement between the two companies.
Under the new agreement, Teck will make an initial $20-million payment to Copper Fox and has committed to make two additional $20-million payments, the first following a decision to bring the property into production and the second following the completion of mine construction. Teck has also agreed to fund the first $60 million of costs of the joint venture prior to a production decision.
Teck is planning a 10,000-m drilling program at Schaft Creek during the 2013 field season focused on exploration, potential resource expansion, and geotechnical controls.
Schaft Creek had 1.2 billion metric tons (mt) of measured and indicated resources at a 0.15% copper equivalent cut-off as of May 2012. Grades were 0.26% copper, 0.017% molybdenum, 0.19 g/mt gold, and 1.69 g/mt silver. Contained-metal estimates stood at 7.1 billion lb of copper, 455 million lb of molybdenum, 7.4 million oz of gold, and 66.7 million oz of silver.
(www.teck.com and www.copperfoxmetals.com)
