The 2019 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) outlined an 8,000 tonnes per day operation, but following trade-off studies, the company is now looking at a 16,000tpd run rate.
"Previously, we were starting at 8,000tpd and going to increase to 16,000tpd by year five. But now we're looking at a much higher throughput straight out the gate. The PEA also used conventional tailings but in the pre-feasibility study (PFS), we have looked at thickened tailings which is safer and has a smaller footprint so is better for the community. We are also seeing better metallurgical recoveries," said Armstrong.
The PFS is due to be published before year-end.
The metal split at San Matias is about 70% copper, 27% gold and 3% silver and Cordoba is looking to produce around one million ounces of gold, 500,000 tonnes of copper and 8Moz of silver over the course of the project's life. This could grow however as the company looks to ramp up exploration drilling.
"We have not done as much exploration as we should have. In 2017, we had the best drill intercept of the year, globally, which was 4,000 grams per tonne. In the PEA we applied a cut-off of 10g/t but as we didn't follow this down dip or up strike, we had to exclude it from the PEA and PFS resource because we simply haven't done enough drilling. A very small amount more of this could contribute a lot more gold to this project," said Armstrong.
In addition to more exploration in 2022, the company also aims to start a feasibility study in March and to work up the economic model as it starts to think about financing the mine development. "We'll be looking at a combination of debt and equity, hedging, possibly streaming, I'm looking at all options at the moment to see what would work best for building this type of project. We've started conversations," said Armstrong.
Armstrong said the company is also close to being able to take its interest in the Perseverance copper project in Arizona, USA to 51% under an earn-in agreement. "We have earned a 25% interest and we're in our second phase and we should be meeting the 51% milestone sometime in December. The exploration team have identified anomalies and we're drilling the first hole," she said.
Shares in Cordoba Minerals are trading at C70, valuing the company at $62 million.
