The Ming Copper-Gold-Silver Mine is located in Canada on the northern coast of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Baie Verte Peninsula. In October 2023, AuTECO Minerals gained ownership of the mine via its acquisition of the Green Bay copper-gold project.
The Ming project consists of the mine site, Goodyear’s Cove Port, and Nugget Pond milling facility.
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Originally, the Ming mine operated between 1972 and 1982. Previous owner Rambler Metals and Mining recommenced commercial operations at the property in November 2012.
As of March 2022, the mine had a mineral resource of 30.2Mt at 1.81% copper, 0.4g/t gold and 2.7g/t silver for 811,000 tonnes copper equivalent (CuEq).
According to a 2018 technical report on the project, Ming Mine will produce for another 20 years until 2037 at a production rate of 1,250 tonnes.
Ming Mine Location and Site Details
The Ming Project is located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and the site lies approximately 17km east of Baie Verte town by road.
The Goodyear’s Cove Port lies at the head of Halls Bay in Newfoundland and is located 1.4km west of the South Brook community, Green Bay District.
The Nugget Pond milling facility is located in Baie Verte, Green Bay approximately 6km west of Snook Arm community. An all-weather road connects this facility to the Ming Mine site located 44km away.
Ownership
Since the initial discovery and until 1940, there had been intermittent exploration and development in the district.
The Main mine produced ore over a ten-year period from 1972 to 1982. In 1982, the Ming Mine was put under care and maintenance as the then owners failed to reach a deal with the adjacent landowner to continue mining operations at the site.
Altius Minerals optioned the Ming Mine from Ming Minerals in 2001 and the property’s interests were acquired by Rambler Metals & Mining from Altius in 2005.
In August 2023, AuTECO Minerals, an emerging copper-gold company, signed a deal to acquire the Green Bay copper-gold project for nearly A$65m. The deal, which closed in October 2023, included the Ming Mine, the Little Deer Complex, Nugget Pond Processing facility and Goodyear’s Cove Port.
Green Bay has been on care and maintenance since early 2023.
Geology and Mineralisation
The Ming deposit is categorised as a high-grade copper-gold Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit comprising an upper zone of multiple tabular copper-gold rich massive sulphide horizons which is underlain by an extensive broad copper stockwork zone.
The geology consists of two lithological packages: the Hanging Wall Sequence and the Mineralised Sequence lying below.
The Hanging Wall Sequence include basaltic flows with less volcaniclastic and volcanogenic sediments. It also includes minor magnetic iron formation.
The Mineralised Sequence consists of quartz phyric felsic volcanic rocks which are altered and locally mineralised. Minor quantities of basalt in altered form are also present in the sequence.
The Ming Massive Sulphide Horizon’s pyritic and banded massive sulphides lie below the sheared contact which separates the two sequences.
According to the 2018 technical report, the mineralisation of the Ming Mine consists of polymetallic sulphide deposits which contain copper, zinc, minor silver, gold, and lead. The deposits also include other metals in minute quantities.
Currently, two dominant mineralisation types are present in the deposit- Stratiform volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (MMS) and Disseminated Stringers of Sulphides (LFZ).
The MMS Horizon includes massive pyrite and banded ores, breccia, and massive chalcopyrite -pyrrhotite ore, while the LFZ Horizon, which lies beneath the MMS Horizon, consists of chloritic schist containing chalcopyrite and pyrite with minor amounts of pyrrhotite and sphalerite.
Ming Mine Mineral Reserves
According to the 2018 technical report, the total mineral resources (measured and indicated) of the copper-gold-silver project stand at 23.448 kilo tonnes containing 849.3Mlbs copper at a grading of 1.64%, 238.6koz gold at a grading of 0.32g/t, and 1,902.3koz silver at a grading of 2.52g/t.
Total Proven Reserves (undiluted, unrecovered) is 3.45 million tonnes containing 143Mlbs copper at a grading of 1.87%, 49koz gold at a grading of 0.44g/t, and 338koz silver at a grading of 3.05g/t.
Mining and Processing
There are five mining areas in the Ming Mine for the mine design- 1806 Zone, 1807 Zone, Ming North Zone (MNZ), Ming South Zone (MSZ), and Lower Footwall Zone (LFZ).
The LFZ horizon has been divided into six blocks where block 1 is mined by post pillar cut and fill method and blocks 2 to 6 by long hole transverse mining.
Copper-gold concentrate is recovered using the copper concentrator located at Nugget Pond. The process starts with the delivery of Run-Of-Mine (ROM) mill feed from the Ming Mine to a two-stage crushing plant. The crushed material is then transferred into crushed ore silo.
The ore passes through the grinding circuit which consists of a Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill and a ball mill. The resulting cyclone overflow from this circuit is conveyed to the flotation circuit.
The copper-gold flotation circuit consists of rougher, rougher-scavenger, primary cleaner, cleaner-scavenger, secondary cleaner, and tertiary cleaner flotation cell banks, arranged in an orderly manner.
The cyclone overflow passes through all these stages to produce copper-gold concentrate. This concentrate enters concentrate thickening circuit.
The thickened slurry is pumped continuously into the filter feed tank and stored till the beginning of the next filtration cycle.
Subsequently, the filter cake is dried and after dewatering, it is transferred through the filter discharge gate into a storage area located directly beneath the filter.
The concentrate is then transferred from the intermediate storage area into trucks parked at the nearby concentrate transfer truck for shipment to the Goodyear’s Cove Port.
Contractors Involved
The technical report of the project, published in 2018, was prepared by WSP Canada, a Canadian engineering and professional services firm, Thibault & Associates, and GEMTEC Consulting Engineers and Scientists.
Mineable development and production shapes were prepared using Surpac software.
