Major Emerging Gold Producer in Central B.C.

LOM average 217,000oz/yr Au , 88 million lbs/yr Cu for 15 years on Flagship property (CAPEX payback 2.9 yrs. at $900/oz Au,$2.50Cu)

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Message: Terrane Metals Corp.

Terrane Metals Corp.

posted on May 11, 2009 07:27PM

http://www.resourcestockguide.com/ho...

Terrane Metals Corp is an exploration and development company focusing on copper, gold and molybdenum properties located in Canada. On July 24, 2006 the Company acquired the Mt.Milligan, Berg, Maze Lake and Howard's Pass properties from Goldcorp Inc. The Company intends to bring two projects into production in the next five to six years. Mt. Milligan is at the final feasibility and permitting stage supporting Terrane's goal for rapid near-term growth. Goldcorp Inc. owns 240 million convertible preferred shares or about 58% of the Company on a fully diluted basis.

Company Essentials

Company Type Exploration II
Primary Resource Gold
Last Updated May 10, 2009
Enterprise Value Per Unit 2.9 $/oz gold
Latest Developments Positive
Financial Health Good


Management

Robert Pease, P.Geo., FGAC, President, CEO and Director
Mr. Pease has been continuously employed by the Placer Dome group for the past 24 years. Since 2002, Mr. Pease was the General Manager, Canada Exploration and Global Major Projects where he was responsible for managing all aspects of Placer Dome's Canadian exploration, and overseeing the geological aspects of advanced stage, major exploration and development projects world-wide.

Edward Farrauto, CGA, CFO
Mr. Farrauto has over 19 years experience as a senior financial officer in private and public companies. His experience encompasses financial and regulatory compliance and public company management.

Darren O'Brien, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration
Mr. O'Brien has been employed by Placer Dome for the past 12 years, mostly recently as Senior Geologist, and immediately prior as Project Geologist on the advanced stage Pueblo Veijo project in the Dominican Republic.

Peter Marshall, P. Eng., Vice President Project Development
Mr. Marshall has been employed by Placer Dome for the past 19 years. Most recently he was construction project manager for the Cortez Hills project in Nevada. He has supervised and contributed to numerous evaluations, feasibility studies, and construction projects.

Darin Labrenz, Chief Geologist
Mr. Labrenz has been employed by Placer Dome for the last 11 years. Most recently he was Exploration Manager and Chief Geologist for the North Mara Operations in Tanzania. Prior to this, in his role as Senior Resource Geologist, Mr. Labrenz participated in numerous corporate evaluations and feasibility studies for Placer Dome.


Mines/Projects $ WeightsResource $ Weights Risk Region $ WeightsCountry $ Weights

Resource Distribution by Category

Gold EquivalentMozIn Situ Value Mil $
PP 8.38 7422
MI 14.01 12409
Inf 3.55 3143
Total 25.94 22974

Resources

GoldMozIn Situ Value Mil $
PP 4.59 4066
MI 2.11 1869
Inf 0.10 89
Gold Total 6.80 6024

SilverMozIn Situ Value Mil $
MI 25.40 318
Inf 9.70 121
Silver Total 35.10 439

CopperBlbIn Situ Value Mil $
PP 1.60 3356
MI 3.44 7232
Inf 0.82 1714
Copper Total 5.86 12302

MolyBlbIn Situ Value Mil $
MI 0.30 2990
Inf 0.12 1220
Moly Total 0.42 4210

Gold Equivalent Total 25.94 22974

Mines And Projects

Berg Project

Resource $ Weights
Country Canada
Ownership 100%
Stage Exploration
Mine/Project Weight 50.4%
Cost of Production N/A


SilverMozIn Situ Value Mil $
MI 25.40 318
Inf 9.70 121
Silver Total 35.10 439

CopperBlbIn Situ Value Mil $
MI 2.52 5300
Inf 0.77 1619
Copper Total 3.29 6919

MolyBlbIn Situ Value Mil $
MI 0.30 2990
Inf 0.12 1220
Moly Total 0.42 4210

Gold Equivalent Total 13.06 11568


  • Location: 585 km north of Vancouver, Canada (22 km northwest of Imperial Metals’ Huckleberry copper-molybdenum-silver mine)
  • Deposit grade: Cu - 0.31%, MoS2 - 0.036%, Ag - 2.1 g/t
  • Cut-off : a conservative 0.30% Cu equivalent per tonne
  • Infrastructure: development of Imperial Metals Huckleberry Mine, which is located about 22 kilometers southeast of Berg, positively impacts the economics of the project.
  • Commenced a 10,000 metre drilling program in 2007
  • The drilling program will focus on expanding the resource and testing high grade molybdenum and silver mineralizations
  • The mine plan has not been updated for the new infrastructure in the region built in conjunction with the development of the Huckleberry Mine nearby. The key infrastructure recently built includes an access road and gas pipeline
  • The Company initiated an environmental baseline campaign including water quality, hydrology, meteorology, waste rock characterization, wildlife and vegetation studies as well as evaluation of waste rock management and open pit design

Mount Milligan Project

Resource $ Weights
Country Canada
Ownership 100%
Stage Feasibility
Mine/Project Weight 49.6%
Cost of Production -250 $/oz gold


GoldMozIn Situ Value Mil $
PP 4.59 4066
MI 2.11 1869
Inf 0.10 89
Gold Total 6.80 6024

CopperBlbIn Situ Value Mil $
PP 1.60 3356
MI 0.92 1932
Inf 0.05 95
Copper Total 2.57 5383

Gold Equivalent Total 12.88 11406


  • Location: 155 km northwest of Prince George in central British Columbia, Canada
  • Access: road travel to the site is 775 km from Prince Rupert and 254 km from Prince George
  • Local resources: qualified labor and services are readily available from Prince George, Fort St. James, Mackenzie and Vanderhoof
  • Electric power: can be accessed from the BC Hydro Kennedy Substation south of Mackenzie (95 km)
  • History: a pre-feasibility study by Placer Dome in 1991 indicated the project was not economically viable under conditions prevailing at the time and the project became inactive. In 2004, Placer Dome re-activated the project by compiling historic project data into a GIS, construction a new 3D lithological model, estimating a new mineral resource and initiating an independent pre-feasibility study
  • In May 2006, Barrick Gold Corporation purchased Placer Dome Inc and sold Placer Dome’s Canadian assets to Goldcorp Inc, including the Mt Milligan property. Goldcorp in turn sold certain assets (including Mt Milligan) to Atlas Cromwell Ltd. In July 2006, Atlas Cromwell was renamed Terrane Metals Corp.
  • The Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve totals 333.7 million tonnes averaging 0.217% Cu and 0.428 g/t Au containing 1.60 billion lb copper and 4.59 million oz gold. The
  • Mineral Reserve was optimized at a US$4.20/tonne cut-off value using US$1.60/lb copper, US$550/oz gold and an 0.88 US$/C$ exchange rate.
  • Mineral resource estimate is based on a 3-D geologic model that incorporated over 180,000 individual assays from 218,701 metres of core drilling in 960 drill holes
  • Current plan calls for a 60,000 tonne milling capacity, 15.3 year mine life and capital expenditures of US$917 million
  • Copper Recovery 84.6%, annual production 88M pounds
  • Gold Recovery 72.3%, annual production 217,000 ounces
  • Average Annual Net Revenue (copper at $3.5, gold at $900) - Copper 61%, Gold 38%, Silver 1%
  • At conservative $680/oz gold and $3.20/lb copper, the project economics are estimated as follows:
    • NPV at 0% - $2.66B
    • NPV at 5% - $1.41B
    • NPV at 8% - $0.95B
    • Payback 3.0 years
    • Internal Rate of Return - 22.9%

Other Projects

Howard Pass

  • Located: along the Yukon-Northwest Territories border
  • Zinc/lead resource identified by Placer and US Steel in the 1970s and 1980s.
  • Pacifica Resources Ltd (PAX.V) has an option to purchase a 100% interest in the project
  • Pacifica is required to make $10 million in option payments over a seven year period to the original Joint Venture partners (Terrane - 51% & US Steel - 49%)
  • Pacifica is also required to grant a 20% net profits royalty (capped at $10 million), and grant a 1% net smelter royalty to the partners

Maze Lake

  • Location: Kivalliq District of Nunavut, Canada
  • Consists of five Inuit Owned Lands Mineral Exploration Agreements (EA's) with a total area of The Property: 39,866 hectares
  • Resource: Gold, Ownership: 100%
  • Drilling under gold mineralized boulders at Haputilik intersected 1.35 g/t Au over 16.5m in the first drill hole and 6.29 g/t Au over 4.8m (including 15.06 g/t over 1.9m) in the second hole
  • Terrane has granted Laurentian the right to earn up to a 75% interest in the Maze Lake Project by making $6,000,000 in exploration expenditures over four years and issuing 1,000,000 units of Laurentian to Terrane. Year-1 expenditures are set at a minimum of $1,000,000 and must be made on or before December 31, 2007
  • Exploration work at Maze Lake has recently commenced and will be 100% funded by Laurentian. Terrane will be the project operator during the first year of the option. Exploration plans include geological mapping, till and lake sediment sampling, and a minimum 1,500 metre diamond drilling program.
  • Drilling continued on the property in the summer of 2007

Wildcat

Christina Jean

  • Location: directly adjacent and contiguous to Terrane's Mt Milligan project in central British Columbia and is approximately 10 kilometers southeast of the main Mt Milligan
  • Resource: Copper/Gold
  • Terrane can earn a 100% interest in the Christina Jean Property by funding a total of $920,000 in exploration expenditures and making $700,000 in option payments over a four-year period. The Option Agreement was entered into on September 15, 2006
  • Latest assay results did not justify continuation of the exploration and as a result the option agreement was terminated on October 31, 2007

Finances

US Stock Price $0.22
CA Stock Price $0.25
Shares Outstanding 363.2 Mil
Market Capitalization $71.2 Mil
Enterprise Value $74.6 Mil
Cash $3.2 Mil
Debt $6.6 Mil
Cash Burn Rate 0.5 Mil $/Month
Months To Burn 6.7
Trailing P/E N/A
Forward P/E N/A
Price/Book 0.5
Price/Sales N/A

Outlook

The Company

  • The Company has a strong financial position with enough cash to continue work on Mt. Milligan and to complete the Berg project resource estimate and a Preliminary Economic Assessment
  • The most important challenge for the Company is to receive financing for Mt. Milligan construction once all permits are received. This is most likely going to be accomplished by finding a strategic partner
  • Goldcorp, a 58% shareholder in Terrane, is probably not going to function in this role since its focus is on high grade gold deposits. Goldcorp will likely look for a buyer of its controlling interest in Terrane in 2008 and 2009. A potential buyer will partner with Terrane or take over the whole Company
  • Absent any partnership or strategic alliance, Terrane plans to engage Endeavour Capital to arrange financing for the US$917 million capital cost for construction

Mt. Milligan

  • The Company plans to have all the permits and certificates in place for development by late 2008, early 2009
  • The construction phase is anticipated to take two years and employ 900 people while the mine itself should employ between 300-400 people for another 15 years after that
  • Terrane expects the mine to be producing by Q1 2012
Berg
  • A Delivery of a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate in anticipated sometime in 2008
  • A completion of a Preliminary Assessment of the project is expected soon after the resource estimate
  • Huckleberry mine located near Berg is scheduled to close in 2010 while Berg could go into production in 2013. Once the economic viability is demonstrated, Berg should attract a great deal interest
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