Morice Land and Resource Management Plan
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- Location Analysis
- Market Analysis
- Market Demand and Price Trend
Opportunity AnalysisAlmost two-thirds of the Morice Plan area (970,000 hectares) is considered to be of extreme or high metallic mineral potential. Of this, 70,588 hectares covered by mining claims representing five percent of the total Morice Plan area. Perhaps the most promising underground mine development potential in the Morice Plan area is that associated with the Dome Mountain, Fireweed, and Silver Queen deposits. Dome Mountain still has about 200,000 tonnes of known ore resource remaining. The key metal is gold, which is estimated at 14.9 grams of gold per tonnes. At the Fireweed property there is an estimated 580,000 tonnes of ore with 342 grams of silver per tonne. The proven reserve at Fireweed also has 2.2 percent zinc and 1.1 percent lead per tonne. Finally, the Silver Queen property, with 205,000 tonnes of known ore barring tonnage has 830 grams of silver and 0.99 grams of gold per tonne. It’s also estimated that the Silver Queen site has 4 percent per tonne of zinc and has reported the presence of the advance metals Gallium and Germanium. Location AnalysisUnderground mining faces many of the same logistical challenges faced by open pit mining operations. Besides the physical land surface over the mineral deposit, there would be specific infrastructure requirements including:
As well, the underground mine would need to ensure it had:
Market AnalysisCurrent Production TrendsThe known mineral resources in the Morice LRMP area consist primarily of five key metals; copper, lead, gold, silver, and molybdenum. The following highlights the current world production for gold and silver, which are more likely to be associated with underground mining.16 Gold – Of an estimated 142,600 tonnes of all gold ever mined, about 15 percent is thought to have been lost, used in dissipative industrial uses, or otherwise unrecoverable or unaccounted for. Of the remaining 121,100 tonnes, an estimated 33,000 tonnes are official stocks held by central banks and about 88,000 tonnes are privately held as coins, bullion, and jewelry. South Africa is the largest gold producing nation in the world producing approximately 395 kilograms of gold in 2002. Canada is the seventh largest producer mining 147,666 kilograms of the precious metal in 2002. Canadian companies are also major players in exploring and developing gold deposits around the world. Figure 9 outlines the leading gold producing nations and the general trend in gold production in recent years. Figure 9. Leading Gold Producing Countries and World Gold Production
Source: US Geological Survey. Silver – More than two-thirds of world silver resources are associated with copper, lead, and zinc deposits, often at great depths. The remainder is in vein deposits in which gold is the most valuable metallic component. Although most recent discoveries have been primarily gold and silver deposits, significant future reserves are expected from major base metal discoveries that contain silver. Although the price of silver and improved technology may appear to increase the reserves and reserve base, the extraction of silver from these resources will be driven by demand for the base metals (Figure 10). Figure 10. Leading Silver Producing Countries and World Mine Production
Source: US Geological Survey. Market Demand and Price TrendGold and silver have been showing renewed strength in 2003. However, between 1998 and 2002, gold prices had shown marked weakness, consistently selling below or near $300 an ounce. However, in recent months gold has moved up strongly. Gold is anticipated to remain strong over the next few years. Gold has traditionally served as a hedge against uncertainty and with recent world events gold is again starting to play this role. However, probably more importantly, gold is priced in US dollars. Currently the United States is aggressively expanding the money supply, which in turn devalues the US currency and inflates the price of gold. Silver is also expected to trend up over the next couple of years as well but is anticipated to lag the increases that will be experienced by gold. The primary reason is that silver, while it will often increase in sympathy to gold prices, trades more like base metals, driven by industrial demand for the metal. Table 18 outlines the historical prices for gold and silver. Table 18. Commodity Prices for Gold and Silver
Source: TD Bank Financial Group Commodities Price Report. Download 1.06 Mb. Share with your friends:
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