The Pumpkin Hollow project will move into full-scale construction mode, after the Nevada Copper board on Tuesday announced a construction decision for the $197-million underground copper project, near Yerington, in the US.

The transition from preconstruction works to full-scale activities will enable TSX-listed Nevada Copper to meet its stated deadline of first copper production from the mine in 2019.

Nevada Copper said that Cementation US, which carried out the earlier preworks programme, had been awarded the mining contract for shaft sinking and underground mine development, while Sedgman US had been awarded a fixed price $118-million engineering, procurement and construction contract for the surface plant and infrastructure.

The Pumpkin Hollow project would benefit from several project optimisations that were incorporated into plans, following a review of the November 2017 prefeasibility study. These include a centralised mine design, which the company said provided greater operational efficiency for the underground mine and the construction of a ventilation shaft through blind sink, which was a lower-risk method to support schedule compliance.

Nevada Copper added that it continued to review further project enhancements, including debottlenecking to subsequently increase production throughput and the potential for decline access to the E2 orebody.

The 5 000 t/d Pumpkin Hollow project will produce 60-million pounds of copper in the first five years of operations, as well as 9 000 oz of gold and 173 000 oz of silver. Over the entire 13.5-year mine life, yearly output will average 50-million pounds of copper, as well as 8 000 oz of gold and 150 000 oz of silver.

Meanwhile, the recent completion of a C$108.5-million public offering and the announcement of a construction decision mean that Nevada Copper had satisfied the conditions of a funding agreement with Triple Flag Mining Finance, paving the way for the first drawdown of $70-million to occur shortly.

Nevada Copper also said that it had secured a commitment from its cornerstone shareholder, Pala Investments, to make available a standby subordinated loan facility of up to $25-million, which could be used over the next 12 to 24 months if needed.

“We are very excited to commence full-scale construction of the Pumpkin Hollow underground project, which will include the processing plant and completion of the underground mine. Delivery of the underground project is the first key step in our strategy of capital-efficient, phased growth from our base in Nevada. I would like to thank all our shareholders and stakeholders, including our financing partners Triple Flag and Red Kite, for their support as we proceed with construction, targeting first copper production in 2019,” commented Nevada Copper president and CEO Matt Gili.