August 11 (SeeNews) - Canada-based Nevsun Resources has said it plans to deliver the preliminary feasibility study (PFS) of the Timok project copper-gold project in eastern Serbia in the first quarter of 2018 instead of September 2017.
With the delay of the PFS, Nevsun aims to ensure it properly evaluates optimisation opportunities and increase the level of front end engineering at Timok project, the president and CEO of the company, Peter Kukielski, said in a statement earlier this week.
The company also plans to provide the market with an interim update via an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) of the Timok project in October 2017, Nevsun Resources said.
"The additional time spent on the PFS will reduce the time needed for a Feasibility Study, and we, therefore, continue to maintain our target for production in 2021," Kukielski said.
The company has spent $14 million (11.9 million euro) to date in 2017 on Timok Upper Zone activities and expects that the PFS will be achieved within the $40 million budget despite the extended timeline, Nevsun said.
Moreover, Nevsun is on track to commence decline development in the fourth quarter of 2017, with permitting well advanced, and the contract tendering process on schedule, it said.
Nevsun has spent $9 million to date in 2017 on the Lower Zone drilling programme. It has drilled 29,000 metres to date, and is targeting another 16,000 metres of Lower Zone drilling in 2017, with eleven rigs actively drilling at June 30.
The Timok project consists of the Cukaru Peki Upper Zone and Lower Zone. Nevsun Resources owns 100% of the Cukaru Peki Upper Zone. The Lower Zone is owned by a joint venture with Freeport - McMoRan Exploration Corporation.
The project is located within the central zone of the Timok Magmatic Complex (TMC), in the Serbian section of the East European Carpathian-Balkan Arc. The TMC has one of the highest concentrations of copper enrichment in the Tethyan Belt.
($ = 0.850318 euro)