Corazon sees processing hub potential on the back of multi-commodity acquisition

Corazon is acquiring three zinc-copper-gold deposits near Lynn Lake in Canada
Nickel, copper,cobalt and zinc are flagged as critical metals in Canada and the US
Projects could mean potential high-value feedstock for Lynn Lake processing hub
Mining and metallurgical testwork continuing at Lynn Lake

Special Report: Corazon Mining has announced plans to acquire three high grade zinc-copper-gold deposits near its flagship Lynn Lake nickel-copper-cobalt project in Canada.

The acquisitions include the MacBride deposit, the Wellmet prospect and the Barrington prospect.

The headline MacBride deposit has historically published metal endowment, with continuity from surface to ~300m drilled depth. Hits include:

10.7m at 9.98% Zn, 0.56% Cu from 32.9m,
4.9m at 9.86% Zn, 0.20% Cu from 119.8m, and
7.5m at 7.76% Zn, 0.31% Cu from 238.2m.

It is currently drilled over a 400m stretch but remains open in all directions.

At Wellmet there are “numerous” surface copper shows and EM conductors ready to be explored, while sparse exploration at Barrington s reported a ~107m copper-rich outcrop which averaged 4.6m in width.

Corazon will acquire the three assets for C$153,600 with the vendor retaining a 2% Net Smelter Royalty (NSR) over the ground, and the company retaining a right to purchase up to 1% of the NSR for C$500k per 0.5%.

Low-cost and potentially high value feedstock

Importantly, the company says the high-grade deposits provide the potential to transform Lynn Lake into a regional poly-metallic processing hub.

This ties in with Corazon’s plans to establish a pathway to redevelop the historical Lynn Lake nickel sulphide mining centre, with zinc-copper as a possible high value feedstock.

The flotation processing techniques for nickel-copper mineralisation are similar to the flotation of zinc-copper VMS mineralisation, it says.

This opportunity to mine high grade zinc-copper-gold deposits, as part of a future mining operation at Lynn Lake, may provide benefits to the projects’ economics.

“Our strategy for the Lynn Lake mining studies is to deliver low operational costs,” Corazon Chairperson Terry Streeter says.

“The knock-on effect of this is that with lower costs, there are lower cutoff grades, resulting in a much larger mining inventory for consideration, within the existing resource areas.

“We don’t need more tonnes. This VMS concept is about value. The grade we see in some of these zinc-copper deposits is very good, and we will seek to establish if this is value we can exploit up-front for a restart of mining at Lynn Lake.

“Alternatively, we will explore whether the VMS deposits are better suited to mining later in the project’s mine plan.”

Corazon Mining (ASX:CZN) — Pic: Lynn Lake district mine and prospect location map. Source: CZN.

Looking forward

Immediate work is now focused on collating historical exploration data and defining the resource potential of the zinc-copper deposits within the Lynn Lake region.

The company also aims to define new targets and deposit extensions utilising it’s extensive dataset of modern geophysics.

In the meantime, mining and metallurgical testwork programs are continuing at Lynn Lake with the current phase of studies anticipated to be completed in Q3 2024.

Following this work, a fully optimised and scheduled mine plan will be generated for assessment.

The ultimate goal is to set a pathway through to production, particularly with the growing dominance of nickel products from Chinese backed Indonesian mining operations, north American battery and automobile manufacturers will struggle to secure nickel sources that qualify for benefits of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.

This article was developed in collaboration with Corazon Mining, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.