Nevada Copper mobilises contractor SMD after Pumpkin Hollow funding boost

Posted by Paul Moore on 9th May 2023

Nevada Copper Corp has announce a financing package providing up to $115 million to advance the ramp-up of the company’s Pumpkin Hollow underground mine, with the goal of achieving nameplate production capacity of 5,000 t per day by the end of 2023. The financing has been arranged through separate agreements with Scotia Capital, plus existing shareholders and financing partners Pala, Mercuria and Triple Flag.

Randy Buffington, President & CEO, commented: “We continue to make excellent progress on our capital and development projects in preparation for restart of mining in the second half of 2023. With significant progress delivered across capital projects, drilling and mine development, in addition to the mobilisation of SMD as the underground mining contractor, we are moving swiftly to complete the ramp-up of the underground mine. With significant copper mineral reserves and resources and once operating at nameplate capacity, the underground mine will support the global drive towards electrification and a renewable energy future. This financing positions us to advance our ramp-up of the underground mine and meet our goal of achieving steady state operations by the end of 2023.”

Small Mine Development (SMD) has been retained as Pumpkin Hollow underground lateral development contractor. SMD is headquartered in Boise, Idaho but is well established in Nevada – assets include its 14,000 ft2 Battle Mountain shop in Battle Mountain, Nevada, on the I-80 corridor and centrally located to the major Nevada gold mining operations. It has existing Nevada mining contracts at First Majestic Silver’s Lee Smith and SSX mines, Nevada Gold Mines (NGM)’s Vista operation and i-80 Gold’s Granite Creek plus ground support and/or rehab work at NGM’s Leeville and Turquoise Ridge.

Key components of the development contract:

  • 66,000 feet of lateral capital development over a 24-month contract period;
  • Delivery of fully developed ore stopes in 2023 to restart and maintain nameplate milling operations (approximately 5,000 t/d); and
  • Unit rate agreement for development and associated services to align SMD and Nevada Copper for success on this key restart deliverable

Nevada Copper will self-perform stope mining in addition to managing ore and waste handling and underground stope ground support services, allowing each group to focus within their specific expertise.

Nevada Copper is the owner of the Pumpkin Hollow copper project located in Nevada, USA with substantial mineral reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. Its two permitted projects include the higher-grade underground mine and processing facility, which is undergoing a restart of operations, and a large-scale open pit PFS stage project.