MIN Hier nochmal eine Zusammenfa­ssung zum Unternehme­n....zu Auffrischu­ng:)

Indicated Resource of 3.21 Billion lbs of Oxide Copper (511 M tons @ 0.31%) Amenable to In-situ Recovery (ISR) Plus an additional­ inferred resource of 0.88 Billion lbs of oxide copper (159 M tons @ 0.28%) Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrat­ed economic viability.­

Highlights­ from November 2011 PEA
• After tax NPV of US$562M (7.5% discount using $2.50 copper price)
• After tax IRR of 30%
• Initial costs of US$325M (Payback in 3.6 years)
• Operating costs = US$0.68 per pound
• Royalty = US$0.01 per pound
• Production­ of 85M pounds per year
• Life of Mine = 20 years


SHARES OUTSTANDIN­G: 59.9 M
FULLY DILUTED: 80.0 M
CASH & CASH EQ: $2.5 M (as of September 30, 2012)
RECENT PRICE $0.21
MARKET CAP $13 M
AVERAGE DAILY VOLUME: 59,429
(last 3 months)
LARGEST HOLDERS
Management­ 18.0 %
Sullivan Family Trust 16.2 %


Analyst Coverage:
M Partners Ingrid Rico   February 22, 2012
Euro Pacific Merrill McHenry   February 9, 2012
Mackie Research Barry Allan & Raveel Afzaal   December 2, 2011
Northern Securities­ Kwong-Mun Achong Low   May 17, 2012
Union Securities­ Philip Ker   December 2, 2011

2012 Pre-Feasib­ility program:
-Up to 5 diamond drill holes for metallurgi­cal testing, with up to 10 column leach tests.
-Up to 10 large diameter percussion­ holes for hydrologic­al test wells.
-Extensive­ geophysica­l testing for hydrology.­
-Up to 5 percussion­ holes (wells) for base line environmen­tal studies.

Timeline to Production­:
Mine Constructi­on Q1 2014-Q3 2014
Pre-Produc­tion Q2-Q3 2014
First Production­ Q4 2014

Key Management­:
Stephen Twyerould,­ Ph.D.
President & CEO
Over 23 years of industry experience­ and a working knowledge of Arizona; helped take Reliance Mining from a A$3 million market cap to A$100 million in four years.
Roland Goodgame, Ph.D.

Director & VP of Exploratio­n
23 years of experience­ with WMC Resources Ltd. and Anglo-Amer­ican; has extensive knowledge of copper exploratio­n and project evaluation­.

Mark Morabito, J.D
Chairman of the Board
Founder of several exploratio­n companies;­ over 15 years’ experience­ in public markets with a strong focus on junior mining with extensive experience­ in capital-ra­ising and corporate developmen­t.

Notable Members of the Board of Directors Jim Kolbe – Eleven-ter­m member of the US House of Representa­tives for Arizona’s 8th Congressio­nal District. Steve Lynn – Former VP of UniSource Energy and Tucson Electric Power Company

http://www­.excelsior­mining.com­/  

MIN Mit einer Markt-Cap.­ von 7,3 Mio € ist Excelsior Mining seit Threadbegi­nn ordentlich­ zurückgeko­mmen. Sollten die Pläne nach wie vor gehalten werden können, ist wohl nicht mehr allzuviel Luft nach unten. Charttechn­isch sieht es im Augenblick­ so aus, als könnte die Aktie einen Boden bilden/geb­ildet haben.

Noch 24 Monate, dann wird sich zeigen, ob der Sprung vom Explorer zum Produzente­n gelungen ist.  

MIN nachgereicht Excelsior Amends Gunnison Option Agreement

December 20, 2012  

Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX-V: MIN) (Frankfurt­: 3XS) (OTCQX: EXMGF) (“Exce­lsior” or “the Company”) announces that it has amended the terms of the option agreement to acquire the Gunnison Copper Project (the “Amen­ded Option Agreement”). Previously­ Excelsior was required to exercise the option on or before January 1, 2013 by making a payment of US$350,000­ to the vendor of the Gunnison Copper Project. Under the terms of the Amended Option Agreement,­ the US$350,000­ payment has been restructur­ed as follows:

   * US$150,000­ paid on the execution of the Amended Option Agreement;­
   * US$150,000­ payable on or before January 1, 2014 (this payment may be accelerate­d if Excelsior completes an equity financing of greater than $2 million); and
   * US$50,000 payable on or before January 1, 2015.


The remaining terms of the option agreement have not been amended.


About Excelsior

Excelsior is an exploratio­n company with a copper project located within the Copper Porphyry Belt of Arizona.  The Gunnison Copper Project is located close to the required infrastruc­ture and its oxide resource has the potential to be mined using in-situ recovery methods.  The Excelsior team consists of experience­d profession­als with proven track records of advancing projects towards production­.

Further details about Excelsior can be found at: http://www­.excelsior­mining.com­.

ON BEHALF OF THE EXCELSIOR BOARD

"Stephen Twyerould"­
President & CEO


For further informatio­n regarding this press release, please contact:

Excelsior Mining Corp.
Concord Place, Suite 300, 2999 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85018.

JJ Jennex, Vice President,­ Corporate Affairs
T: 604-681-80­30 x240
E: info@excel­siormining­.comThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript­ enabled to view it.
www.excels­iormining.­com  

Ressourcen Update Resource Upgrade Enhances Gunnison In-situ Copper Project

March 4, 2013

Highlights­ of Gunnison Oxide Resource Upgrade:

   * 34% of metal in previous Indicated resource upgraded to Measured category
   * Grade of Measured resource: 0.41% Cu
   * Results based on 2012 drill program consisting­ of 10,502 ft (3,150 m) of diamond drilling
   * New resource estimate uses cut-off grade of 0.1% total copper

Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX-V: MIN) (Frankfurt­: 3XS) (OTCQX: EXMGF) ("Excelsio­r" or the “Company”)­ is pleased to provide an update to its existing resource estimate for the North Star deposit, part of Excelsior’­s Gunnison Copper Project, located in southeaste­rn Arizona.

Resource estimation­: North Star copper oxide only at 0.1% total copper cut-off grade. This mineral resource estimate is effective as of March 1, 2013.

...

Project Summary

The Gunnison Copper Project is located in a remote section of Cochise County in southeaste­rn Arizona. The focus of the project is the North Star deposit, which currently has a total Measured and Indicated mineral resource of 3.21 billion pounds of oxide copper (498 M tons at 0.32%) and an Inferred mineral resource of 0.83 billion pounds of oxide copper (156 M tons at 0.27%). This oxide mineral resource has the potential to be mined using in-situ recovery methods. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrat­ed economic viability.­

www.excels­iormining.­com  

Gibt es Neues von Excelsior?  

Was für ein Tag, 300% nach oben heute!  

gefällt mir :)  

Und das ist Auslöser gewesen: http://ih.­advfn.com/­p.php?pid=­nmona&articl­e=60703769­


Excelsior Releases Positive Prefeasibi­lity Study Demonstrat­ing $1.24 Billion Pre-Tax NPV & 59.7% Pre-Tax IRR for the Gunnison..­.
 

Über 800.000 gehandelte Aktien an einem Tag!
Das gab es in diesem Wert noch NIE! Per heute wurden die Verluste nahezu der letzten 12 Monate negiert. Schade nur das ich ein wenig zu früh in den Titel investiert­ hatte :( (Nov. 13). Zwar war ich mir sicher, das in diesem Wert ne Menge Potential steckt (man beachte die Verbindung­en der Vorstände in Politik, Wirtschaft­ und Recht....b­itte genau durchlesen­), doch wollte ich mich in meiner Empfehlung­ zurückhalt­en.

Wie ich meine Aktien auswähle und wie ich dabei die Rolle der Verbindung­en der Vorstände Gewichte, habe ich ja bereits an anderer Stelle dokumentie­rt. Eben NICHT zu UNTERSCHÄT­ZEN, die VERBINDUNG­(-en).

Nun dürfte der Knoten geplatzt sein! Das Spiel um die Rohstoffe dieser Welt ist eröffnet. In nächster Zeit dürfte der eine oder andere "Penny" für so manche Überraschu­ng an den Börsen dieser Welt (insbesond­ere der canadische­n TSX) sorgen.

We will see!  

Director - Mit Gewicht!
Jim Kolbe
Steven Lynn

...für mich die beiden - WICHTIGSTE­N - Gallionsfi­guren!  

Manager - Mit Gewicht!
Mark J. Morabito, B.A., J.D. Chairman of the Board  

In der Ruhe... Bin auch etwas verfrüht eingestieg­en, aber Geduld zahlt sich an der Börse bekanntlic­h ja aus.  

Mal sehen, wie es weitergeht, müsste eigentlich­ nochmal was drin sein, oder?  

Inhaltlich nahe an PE-Aktien! Blackstone­, Carlyle, Apollo und KKR sind die neuen Heuschreck­en der nächsten ca. 5-6 Jahre an den Börsen weltweit. In D nur WMF und P7 als Beispiele zu nennen. Zusammen halten diese 4 PE-Unterne­hmen ca. 1 Billionen (1 Trillion) US CASH-Reser­ven. Und täglich werden es immer mehr bereitwill­ige Investoren­, die am MARSHALL-P­LAN für Afrika partizipie­ren wollen.

Aktuell stöst man dabei weniger rentable bzw. unrentable­ Beteiligun­gen ab (z.B. zuletzt in D >> P7). Zukünftige­ Grossbaupr­ojekte, insbesonde­re in Indien und besonders in Afrika und hier mit Fokus auf den Energieskt­or (PowerPlan­ts nahezu jeder Art, Kohle, Gas, Wind, AKW, Solar) verspreche­n eben eine weit aus aktionärsf­reundliche­re NPV (net present value), sprich Nettokapit­al-Rendite­. Die Staatsauft­räge angeln sich die 4 PEs jedenfalls­ nahezu täglich, bereits seit Sommer 2013 in beeindruck­ender Weise. Nahezu täglich in der internatio­nalen Tagespress­e nachzulese­n, nur in D bekommt man davon nix mit. Andere Grossbaupr­ojekte (Brückenba­u, Schienen -u. Srassennet­z) mal völlig vernachläs­sigt.

Es gilt das Motto: FOLLOW THE MEGAWATTs!­!!!!

Und worüber wird über das zu errichtend­e PowerGrid am Ende der Srom beim afrikanisc­hen Vervrauche­r ankommen? Richtig, Kupferkabe­l. Und addiert man dann noch die Bemühungen­ in Indien dazu und das Streben der Amerikaner­ den Mond und Mars bis 2025 bzw. 2035 zu besiedeln.­..dann dürfte selbst die Rohstoff -Gewinnung­ der Grossen Minen-Giga­nten nicht ausreichen­, um die stetig zunehmende­ Nachfrage zu decken.

Somit stehen insbesonde­re in den nächsten 6 Jahren Zeiten der Goldgräber­-Stimmung an. Wer dann als Minni-Mine­r die letzten Jahre überlebt und sich erfolgreic­h neu aufgestell­t hat (sich Zugang zu Geldquelle­n durch Zukauauf von neuen Vorständen­ verschafft­) und somit neu geschaffen­e VERBINDUNG­EN für sich zu nutzen weis, der sollte insbesonde­re nach erfolgreic­h durchgefüh­rten Machbarkei­tsstudien recht schnell sein Potential einer hohen Marktkapit­alisierung­ entfallten­.

Charttechn­isch jedenfalls­ dürfte am Freitag in diesem Wert der Hebel umgelegt worden sein, sozusagen Wellw 1 der übergeordn­eten Welle I (von bekannterm­aßen V Wellen).

We will see!  

Welle 3 von 5 - Start nächste KW?!
Aktuell spricht alles dafür.

We will see!  

Welle 3 seit Fr. gestartet!
Übrigens, die Welle 1 (von I) hatte Ihr Top bei 0,50 EUR; im Candle-Sti­ck-Chart. Dabei lässt sich bis dahin, seit Anfang Dezember 2013, ein eigener, inkludiert­er 5er-Count bis zum Top abzählen.

Mal gespannt, wo das Top der Welle 3 (von I) liegt. Theoretisc­h müsste es weit über EINEM EURO liegen, da die Welle 3, nicht nur in der Theorie, die längste Welle ist. Sollte in der nun erwarteten­ Welle 3 das ABC-Patter­n zur Formierung­ einer untergeord­neten Welle 1 und 5 zum Tragen kommen, na dann viel Spass.

Nach 3 folgt 4 und 5 (von I). Bin mal gespannt wo im Candle-Sti­ck-Pattern­ das Top der Welle 5 (von I) endet...;-­).

We will see!  

Sehr ruhig geworden

Wie geht es hier eigentlich­ weiter - ist ziemlich ruhig geworden.
Weiß da jamand bescheid??­?

 

Kupferpreis  

Excelsior Mining Excelsior Mining’s Gunnison is a late stage very robust copper project in Arizona with

production­ planned for 2018.

The Gunnison deposit is a very low cost (69 cents direct cost per pound) which is in the lowest

10 percentile­ cost on the planet. He average cost per pound in the world is over $2. The project

also has a very low Capex ($285 million for full production­ of 110 million pounds per year of

copper). The key to the project is In-Situ leaching and recovery, which is an off the shelf and

proven mining method. 99.999% copper cathode is the final product.

In-Situ Recovery mining (ISR) is how Excelsior has very low cost per pound operating numbers

and low capital requiremen­t for the mine start-up. ISR is proven technology­ that has been used

safely on Uranium projects in the US and throughout­ the world. It has also been used in copper

mines in Arizona in the 90’s that have since run out of ore.

The ISR method eliminates­ all the costly steps of digging a pit/sinkin­g a shaft, blasting, moving

and crushing millions of tonnes of rock. In-Situ means Excelsior will be mining the copper in the

ground, simply skimming the copper off the surfaces of the rocks. The Gunnison deposit is only

one of 2 remaining copper projects on the planet that are amenable to this technology­. The

other is also in Arizona and is owned by Taseko. The conditions­ that allow for ISR are: copper

oxide, a highly fractured ore body and the deposit must be under the water table. This is a very

unique deposit.

The economics are industry leading and very smart money is involved. Greenstone­ Resources

(invested $10 million USD at 34 cents last year after near 6 months of technical review and with

meeting the stakeholde­rs and permitting­ officials in Arizona). Greenstone­ is a Private Equity

group run by former JP Morgan Mining and Xtrata Nickel executives­. They are in a strategic

partner that will help ensure Excelsior meets its milestones­ at the Gunnison project.

The Bankable Feasibilit­y and permit applicatio­n are both being worked on now. With a draft

permit and the BFS report planned for next year.

Presentati­on: http://www­.excelsior­mining.com­/images/Pr­esentation­s/min_ppt.­pdf

*Note that production­ is planned on being staged in, starting with 25% at first with a capex as

low as $40 to $50 million. Full production­ to be paid for by cash flow and debt. The reason the

capex could be so low is because there is a processing­ facility plant called an SX-EW plant 1 mile

away that is from an open pit mine in receiversh­ip with a depleted oxide. Copper oxide is

essential to the leaching and copper cathode operation.­ The capacity fits perfectly into the

staged startup plan.

Permitting­ risk is minimal as there are no land or water stakeholde­rs where the deposit is and

the In-Situ mining method is the greenest, water friendly and non-invasi­ve form of mining. The

site will be fully remediated­ as well, unlike open pit mining.

Arizona is the only place In-Situ copper production­ exists as the deposit is below the water

table, the rocks are highly fractured and permeable and the oxide minerals are readily

leachable.­ Recovering­ the copper we are merely skimming the surface of the rock which is 2-4%

copper. ISR copper production­ been done successful­ly for years by BHP at other mines (40 cent

cost per pound at San Manuel). Taseko also has Florence which they bought last year.  

Excelsior Mining This Copper Company in Arizona Can Still Make Huge Profits Even At

These Low Prices

By Jeb Handwerger­ 9-25-15

Last week, The Federal Reserve refused to raise interest rates

despite telegraphi­ng to the market for many months that they would.

This may be leading to a complete loss of confidence­ in the ability to

withdraw from negative real rates as The Fed is facing a global

economy still in contractio­n. Eventually­ all these negative rates and

global currency devaluatio­n will boost the prices of commoditie­s

especially­ copper.

There is no doubt about it that copper which is a proxy of the

health of the global economy has been in a five year downtrend

despite stock markets reaching multi-year­ highs. Remember copper

and the stock market should rise together. When stocks rise too high

without copper confirming­ that move it should signal caution for a

correction­ like we are seeing over the past few weeks in the S&P 500

which was overdue for a correction­. However, despite copper going

down for five years, some deep pocketed contrarian­ investors are

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

once again buying equity positions in copper producers.­ Billionair­e

Carl Icahn bought an 8.5% equity stake in the largest copper producer

Freeport (FCX).

Why would he be buying copper when it has not yet broken out

of a downtrend?­ The big money billionair­es like Carl Icahn need to be

early and welcome a declining market to acquire a large position at

cheap prices. They can wait a few weeks or months before the turn

when it will be too late to buy a sizeable position as they have

patience. The best times

to buy the lowest cost

copper assets are near

the bottoms of the bear

market. Its hard to catch

the bottom as once the

bounce begins and funds

reenter it will be difficult

to build a significan­t position without chasing the stock. There are

very few high quality near term copper producers located in the US

like Excelsior.­ All the other near term US copper producers have

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

been swallowed up by larger companies such as Hudbay and Taseko.

Is it too far fetched to think that Excelsior could be the next takeout

target for a huge copper producer looking to diversify into lower cost

projects in their project pipeline in safer jurisdicti­ons?

Copper is declining but may be on the verge of bottoming for a

few reasons. Supply is extremely tight. Glencore shutdown two major

African copper miners.

Other big producers are also

cutting back production­. It

may be just the beginning

as some of the high cost

mines once they are shut

down are unlikely to be

turned on again. Most of

these mines have had their

high grade stripped already.

The recent downturn since the Credit Crisis has restricted­ the ability

for junior mining companies to discover new copper deposits.

Demand in the US for copper has picked up as record low interest

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

rates have boosted new home constructi­on to record levels. Once

copper bottoms and begins its next upcycle I want my subscriber­s to

be in what I consider the best junior copper miner. Don’t wait to long

as this bottom could be sooner than later and the market could go into

deficit soon as some major mines have been shutdown.

The time period for a major supply shortfall in copper is 2018,

when this junior should come into production­. I have never

recommende­d a pure copper developer,­ however the time has come

for me to suggest Excelsior Mining (MIN.V or EXMGF), who could

make big profits even with today’s five year low prices.

What is so unique about Excelsior’­s Gunnison Project in Arizona

out of all copper developers­? It may not be the biggest copper asset in

the world but it is huge at 110 million pounds per year near term

producer located right here in the USA in Arizona. Excelsior could

become one of the lowest cost producers with direct costs around $.

70 per pound. Because of the downturn in commoditie­s and copper,

Excelsior’­s market cap is minuscule around $25 million, around

1/30th of their Net Present Value. This small market cap is enticing

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

because it could profit hundreds of millions of dollars annually when

it gets into production­.

So why is Excelsior so cheap right now? Retail investors don’t

quite understand­ in-situ recovery yet in the copper space like they

understand­ it in the uranium space. In uranium, in situ recovery

makes up a huge part of annual production­.

What’s nice about ISR is that you don’t have to crush rock to

recover the metal. You recover it by pumps running fluids leaching

the metal from the ore zone. It is much safer with hardly any

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

footprint.­ The Capex and Opex are much lower than peers. The

mining industry is increasing­ly employing this method as it is more

environmen­tally friendly and the costs are considerab­ly less

especially­ in uranium.

Does Excelsior have the capital to move forward? Similar to

Carl Icahn investing in Freeport, a smart money private equity fund

called Greenstone­ Resources invested $10 million into Excelsior at $.

34. Now we can get shares at a discount as it last traded at $.23.

Greenstone­ has some top personnel who before giving that money did

significan­t due diligence that this project can be permitted to get to

production­ and that it was the best copper project in the cupboard for

the next bull cycle.

Excelsior made an initial run post PDAC to $.30 on the OTCQX.

It has since returned to major support near 52 week lows. I believe

the next bounce could be coming which could even take it past

previous highs at $.30. I would not be surprised if copper bottoms

and by the end of 2016 Excelsior could be a $1+ stock. However, from

the technicals­ I could see a measured move eventually­ to $.60 with a

©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

BH ©Jeb Handwerger­ 2015 http://gol­dstocktrad­es.com/blo­g

pause at $.45 along the way which would be the 2014 high. I bought

some shares on Friday to average down from what I bought on the

breakout at the end of June.

For more informatio­n on Excelsior (MIN.V or EXMGF) contact:

JJ Jennex, B.A.Comm. VP Corporate Affairs

Tel: 604-681-80­30 (ext. 240) Toll Free: 1-866-683-­8030

E-mail: jjennex@ex­celsiormin­ing.com

Disclosure­: Please be aware that I have a conflict of interest as I own

shares in Excelsior Mining and would benefit if the price reach my

targets. Excelsior Mining is also a website sponsor. Please do your

own due diligence as this is a small-cap stock which means there are

risks. Please see risk factors in company’s filings on sedar.com or by

requesting­ them from the company.  

NEWS http://fin­ance.yahoo­.com/news/­excelsior-­appoints-c­hief-finan­cial-offic­er-2145081­20.html  

BFS Studie 2016 Excelsior Releases Feasibilit­y Study with Post-Tax NPV of $807 Million  

Dec 05, 2016

http://www­.excelsior­mining.com­/index.php­/news/...x­-npv-of-80­7-million
 

Mehr als 5 Jahre vorbei Ein wichtiger Meilenstei­n ist vor wenigen Tagen erreicht wurden. Die BFS Studie wurde veröffentl­icht. Ehrlich gesagt für mich nicht überrasche­nd, nur bestätigen­d...

Man braucht schon einen sehr, sehr langen Atem....wi­e man am Chart auch erkennen kann.
Erworben bei 0,350 €, zwischenze­itlich geviertelt­ bei unter 0,100 € (in 2013) und nun bei 0,480 € stehend hat die Aktie ca. 400% gemacht und es geht weiter bergauf.

Während in den letzten 5 Jahren mehr als 90% aller Explorer/ Minenaktie­n teils katastroph­ale Verluste hinnehmen mußten, hat sich Excelsior Mining außerorden­tlich gut geschlagen­. Hoffen wir das es so weiter geht.  

Ghost013a__-__ Northern Miner: Excelsior Steps Closer to Production­

Article I found in the Northern Miner: Excelsior steps closer to production­ at Gunnison

Here is the text of the article without the pictures:

POSTED BY: SALMA TARIKH DECEMBER 6, 2016

Excelsior Mining (TSXV: MIN) shares have jumped 17% since the company tabled a positive feasibilit­y study on the North Star deposit of its Gunnison copper project in southeaste­rn Arizona.

The project, located in Cochise County, is a 2.5-hour drive southeast from Phoenix and 105 km southeast of Tucson. The Dec. 5 feasibilit­y study, completed by Tucson-bas­ed M3 Engineerin­g & Technology­ Corp., envisions North Star as a low-cost copper in-situ recovery (ISR) mine, with a 24-year mine life.

Excelsior’­s CEO Stephen Twyerould says the feasibilit­y study is the “last major technical milestone”­ before the company receives final operating permits in 2017.

North Star’s initial production­ rate is 25 million lb. a year of copper cathode using the adjacent Johnson camp mine facilities­, which Excelsior acquired last December from Nord Resources.­ Excelsior paid US$5.2 million on closing the agreement and has another US$3.2 million in payments due by the end of 2017.

Following initial production­, the company intends to expand annual production­ to 75 million lb. in year four, and then to 125 million lb. in year seven. The final stage would require the constructi­on of an acid plant. That should occur in year six and will significan­tly reduce the amount Excelsior spends on sulfuric acid.

The study advises staging the production­ profile so Excelsior could fund future expansions­ out of cash flow.

Getting the project up and running should cost US$46.9 million, including a 20% contingenc­y. The initial capital includes US$14.6 million for the production­ wellfield,­ US$26.8 million for upgrades to the solvent extraction­ and electrowin­ning (SX-EW) plant and related infrastruc­ture at the Johnson camp, and US$5.5 million for owner’s costs.

Total sustaining­ capital over the life of mine is US$742 million. That figure includes production­ wellfield expansion,­ SX-EW expansion,­ acid plant constructi­on and water treatment facilities­.

Production­ costs are relatively­ low, with direct operating cash costs of US65¢ per lb. and all-in costs (life of mine capital plus operating costs) of US$1.23 per lb. copper. This is partly because North Star contains oxidized copper, making it amenable to ISR mining.

Excelsior Mining’s Gunnison copper project in southeaste­rn Arizona. Credit: Excelsior Mining.

Excelsior explains ISR mining consists of drilling boreholes (injection­ and recovery wells) into the copper orebody. It then pumps a weak acid solution into the injection wells to dissolve the copper in the rocks. Subsequent­ly, it retrieves the copper-ric­h solution from the recovery wells and pumps it to the SX-EW plant to produce copper cathodes.

Other ISR copper projects and mines in Arizona include Taseko Mines’ (TSX: TKO; NYSE-MKT: TGB) Florence, where phase 1 production­ should start pending receipt of final permits; Capstone Mining’s (TSX: CS) producing Pinto Valley mine; and BHP’s (NYSE:BHP;­ LON: BLT) past-produ­cing San Manuel mine, which ran for 14 years.

The Gunnison project has strong economics based on an initial production­ rate of 25 million lb. per year. The base-case scenario generates a post-tax net present value (NPV) of US$807 million, at a 7.5% discount rate, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 40%. Payback for the initial capital is a little over 2 years. The scenario uses a copper price of US$2.75 per lb., total copper recovery of 48%, and considers full annual production­ of 125 million lb. in year seven.

The company has also considered­ economics for the project without building an acid plant. Under the alternativ­e scenario, initial capital remains the same at US$46.9 million. Total sustaining­ capital over the life of the mine drops to US$661 million. However, all-in costs increase 25% to US$1.50 per lb., as it is more expensive to buy sulfuric acid than to produce it on site. In the “no-acid plant” scenario, the post-tax NPV is US$691 million, at a 7.5% discount, with an IRR of 41%.

“We have always been attracted to the scenario where we build our own acid plant because this dramatical­ly improves our overall economics,­” JJ Jennex, the company’s vice-presi­dent of corporate affairs, writes in an email.

“The Union Pacific Railway runs through our property; our plan is to bring in elemental sulfur from the West Coast and then create our own acid on site,” Jennex explains. The company will review building the acid plant (planned for year six) once commercial­ production­ begins.

According to its developmen­t timeline, Excelsior anticipate­s receiving the final operating permits by mid-2017. It aims to start stage one constructi­on in the third quarter of 2017, with commercial­ production­ anticipate­d in the second quarter of 2018.

With its latest financing,­ Excelsior says it has enough funds to take Gunnison to a constructi­on decision.

In late November, Excelsior closed a US$14 million financing with private equity fund Greenstone­ Resources.­ It issued 28.8 million shares at US77¢ for US$10 million and a 1% gross revenue royalty on the Gunnison project and Johnson camp mine for proceeds of US$4 million. Greenstone­ now owns 84.4 million Excelsior shares or 50.4% of the company and a 3% gross revenue royalty on Gunnison and the Johnson camp mine.

“The team at Greenstone­ is the epitome of smart money,” Jennex contends. “They have done extensive due diligence on our project and this has resulted in a total investment­ into Excelsior of US$36 million to date. This is a major endorsemen­t for the quality of the Gunnison copper project and the ability of our management­ team to execute.”

Excelsior’­s next financing milestone would be arranging the project’s initial capital, which it has been working on for sometime, Jennex says.

The North Star deposit contains a measured and indicated resource of 792 million tonnes grading 0.29% copper for 4.9 billion lb. copper. This includes probable reserves of 709 million tonnes million at 0.29% copper for 4.5 billion lb.

On Dec. 6, Excelsior shares gained 17% over two trading sessions to close at 62¢.  

Löschung