Project Overview & Resources
Era Resources is focused on the development of its Yandera copper project, located 95 kilometres southwest of the northern seaport of Madang and situated within the highly prospective New Guinea Copper-Gold Belt.
The Yandera Project area was the subject of intensive, drill-based exploration programs during the late 1960s and 1970s by a number of companies, including Kennecott Copper and BHP. The historic activity, which included 102 diamond drill holes totaling over 33,000 metres, culminated in the preparation of a mining study by BHP, identifying the Yandera porphyry system as containing one of the largest undeveloped porphyry copper systems (with ancillary molybdenum and gold) in the southwest Pacific. Since acquiring the property, Era has completed an additional 471 diamond drill holes totaling over 144,000 metres.
Era Resources released an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate in December 2016, following a 43-hole diamond drill campaign. This latest resource is significantly strengthened compared to the 2015 estimate, with a substantial increase in size. It also encompasses an expansion of the footprint, establishment of linkages between previously separate pits and the potential to further optimize pit designs and reduce stripping ratios.
The updated mineral resource estimates for the Yandera Project appear below. The 2016 Resource Estimate Update for Yandera Copper Project TSXV announcement is also available in printer-friendly PDF format.
Yandera Project
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Mineral Resource Statement at $3.35/lb Cu, $10.00/lb Mo, and $1,400.00/oz Au. Yandera Copper, Molybdenum, Gold Deposit, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. (0.15 CuEq (%) Cutoff)
Yandera 2016 Resource Statement
- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any part of the Mineral Resources estimated will be converted into a Mineral Reserves estimate;
- Resources stated as contained within a potentially economically minable open pit; pit optimization was based on assumed copper, molybdenum, and gold prices of US$3.35/lb, US$10.00/lb, and US$1,400.00/oz, respectively; hypogene and transition recoveries of 90% for Cu, 85% for Mo, 65% for Au; oxide recoveries of 60% for Cu, 0% for Mo, 43.3% for Au; a mining cost of US$2.50/t, an ore processing and G&A cost of US$7.50/t, and a pit slope of 45 degrees;
- Resources are reported using a 0.15 % CoG on an Equivalent Copper value that included process recoveries for metal;
- The CuEq was calculated using the formula CuEq = Cu% + (Mo% * 2.82) + (Au ppm * 0.44); and,
- Numbers in the table have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate and may not sum due to rounding.
The Yandera Project Is Now More Robust than Ever Before
Era is moving ahead toward development with a planned program to
- Complete metallurgical test work to confirm copper recovery from oxide mineralization
- Update scoping study to incorporate processing of oxide mineralization as well as the expanded sulphide resource
- Complete two-staged exploration program aimed at further expansion of the resource through targeted infill and peripheral drilling
- Conduct exploration on newly identified high-priority targets to demonstrate further resource upside
- Update and optimize feasibility study based on a combined oxide and flotation facility, deep sea tailings placement, power supply, transport road to and export facilities near the port city of Madang