Name of the Project
Vicuña Project.

Location
The project is in the Vicuña district, on the Chile–Argentina border, spanning San Juan province, in Argentina, and adjacent Chilean territory. It combines the Filo del Sol and Josemaria deposits in one integrated development plan.

Project Owner/s
The project is held by Vicuña Corp, a 50:50 joint arrangement between Lundin Mining and BHP. The project comprises the Filo del Sol and Josemaria deposits.

Project Description
Vicuña has been presented as a multigenerational asset, with an initial life-of-mine (LoM) of more than 70 years, producing an estimated 22.3-million tonnes of copper, 37.2-million ounces of gold and 763-million ounces of silver.

Lundin Mining’s integrated technical announcement presents Vicuña as a phased, large-scale copper/gold/silver project, based on integrated planning across the Filo del Sol and Josemaria deposits.

The study outlines a project that would rank among the top five copper, gold and silver mines globally.

The development concept uses conventional openpit mining and flotation processing to produce copper concentrate with gold and silver by-products. The project will be developed in three stages.

Stage 1 encompasses a sulphide mill and the Josemaria deposit, establishing an initial openpit mine and concentrator designed for future expansion to accelerate first production and early cash flow.

Stage 2 builds on this foundation by developing the Filo del Sol leachable oxides and a corresponding solvent extraction electro winning plant for copper, gold and silver recovery.

Stage 3 represents the long-term maturation of the district through the expansion of the concentrator and development of the Filo del Sol sulphide deposit. This will allow for peak, sustained production, positioning the project as a long-life, globally significant copper operation. This stage also integrates key district infrastructure, including a desalination plant and associated pipeline, and return concentrate slurry pipeline, to support the expansion of the district.

The initial nominal processing rate for the plant is 175 000 t/d, with an expansion scenario to 293 000 t/d. The integrated plan is based on a 25-year mine life and reports average output over the first 25 years of about 400 000 t/y of copper, 700 000 oz/y of gold and 22-million ounces of silver a year, with a higher ten-year production phase averaging more than 500 000 t/y of copper, 800 000 oz/y of gold and 20-million ounces of silver a year, or 800 000 t of copper equivalent.

Total payable production over the LoM is about 9.8-million tonnes of copper, 16.1-million ounces of gold and 360-million ounces of silver.

Potential Job Creation
The announcement summary does not publish a confirmed construction and operations employment total.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
In the base case scenario, the project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $9.5-billion at $4.60/lb copper, $3 300/oz gold and $40/oz silver. Stage 1 has a reported after-tax payback period of 8.4 years and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 14.8%, which includes all the stages.

Capital Expenditure
Stage 1 capital is estimated at $7.1-billion, Stage 2 at $3.9-billion and Stage 3 at $7.1-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The project is in preconstruction and technical-definition stages, with public guidance indicating first production targeted in about 2030.

Latest Developments
Next steps include detailed design and engineering for Stage 1, the ramp-up of project readiness activities and upgrades to the access road.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Lundin Mining, tel +1 604 689-7842 or email info@lundinmining.com.