Canada-focused, Perth-based private group BMC Minerals continues to progress its Kudz Ze Kayah silver-zinc project with the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board revealing the project has been recommended to proceed to a permitting stage.
The YESAB recommendation is a substantial milestone for BMC as the Kudz Ze Kayah project – which contains a major high-grade volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system – has now cleared the way for BMC to progress the remaining regulatory processes ahead of construction.
YESAB approval is subject to 30 mitigation measures and six monitoring measures, which collectively improve the projects social and environmental credentials.
Under the Yukon system, the YESAB report is now to be submitted to a Federal body and a relevant Territorial body to produce a Decision Document which will outline whether BMC can proceed to the final phase of permitting and licensing.
Construction at Kudz Ze Kayah would likely see the company focus on the ABM deposit, which is a silver-zinc dominant deposit containing significant levels of gold, copper and lead.
According to a Mineral Reserve Estimate released in June 2019 the project has a total reserve of 15.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 5.8% zinc, 1.7% lead, 0.9% copper, 138g/t silver and 1.3g/t gold.
Commenting on the YESAB recommendation, BMC Mineral’s President Scott Donaldson said: “We are very pleased to receive the Final Screening Report following a robust and thorough assessment process with input from all affected parties.
“We are now preparing the development permit applications which will incorporate the recommendations. The process of assessment in the Yukon is very rigorous and all Yukoners can have confidence that the development of the ABM mine would be progressed in accordance with the highest standards.
“We would like to thank the First Nations, regulators, organisations, and individual Yukoners that have provided comment and constructively contributed to the assessment process. BMC looks forward to receipt of the Decision Document in due course.”
Kudz Ze Kayah, which was acquired by BMC from Teck Resources in 2015, now consists of ~359km2 of tenements within the Finlayson Lake district of the Yukon and has access via an all-season road to an ice-free port at the town of Stewart in British Columbia.
The Finlayson Lake district comprises predominantly Devonian-Mississippian volcanic and sedimentary rocks and is renowned for hosting a number of historic mines and deposits of VMS-style base metals.
The ABM deposit comprises two major zones of continuous VMS mineralisation primarily hosted within felsic volcanic package. Mineralisation of the ABM deposit predominantly comprises massive sulphides, with a lesser component of disseminated, vein-style and banded sulphides.
In addition to the ABM deposit located on the KZK Property, Kudz Ze Kayah also includes the wholly-owned Pelly and Wolf Properties, as wells as the Kona Property which the company has an option to 100% acquire.
The Pelly and Kona Properties are also located within the Finlayson Lake district and are highly prospective VMS-style deposits, adding further growth prospects to BMC’s Yukon portfolio.
