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Quaterra Initiates MacArthur Project Copper Oxide Leach Evaluation At Yerington, Nevada
Vancouver, British--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2018) - Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) ...
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[{"type":"text","content":"Quaterra Initiates MacArthur Project Copper Oxide Leach Evaluation At Yerington, NevadaPreparation commences for comprehensive prefeasibility study following M3 Engineering reviewVancouver, British--(Newsfile Corp. - January 10, 2018) - Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) (\"Quaterra\", the \"Company\") today announced that it has initiated preparation of a comprehensive prefeasibility study on its MacArthur open-pit, oxide-leach copper project. MacArthur is located in the northern part of the Company's 51-square-mile property in the historic Yerington Copper District, Nevada, that also includes the Yerington and Bear copper deposits.MacArthur Prefeasibility StudyIn November 2017, Quaterra engaged M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation (\"M3\"), of Tucson, Arizona, to review opportunities to optimize the near-term production potential at MacArthur as laid out in the 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment (\"2012 PEA\" - please see press release dated May 23, 2012 at www.quaterra.com).The 2012 PEA identified several areas for potential improvement, including additional metallurgical work and focused resource drilling. In addition, M3's recent review indicates that it may be more economic to buy sulfuric acid in the market than to build an acid plant to process purchased sulfur. The acid plant represented $65.4 million or 28% of the total pre-production capital costs of $232.7 million in the 2012 PEA. Following the review and final evaluation, the Company intends engaging M3 to complete a prefeasibility study in order to add more certainty to the economic potential of MacArthur with a view towards advancing the project toward development. Specifically, as part of the prefeasibility study M3 and others will focus on:Updating the resource model and optimizing the mine plan.Reducing initial capital costs by eliminating the acid plant.Investigating ways to improve copper recovery by testing various crush sizes to replace the original plan to use Run-of-Mine (ROM) material. The new metallurgical test work program will help define the ultimate recovery, acid consumption, and leach cycle for ROM and crushed ore as well as optimal leach pad parameters. Bulk leach tests of copper oxide material are included in the test work plan.Evaluating the cost-recovery trade-offs of leaching ROM material compared with crushed materia...