Viability Studies and Mine Design for Serbian Copper-Gold Project
SRK was engaged to undertake several studies for the Cukaru Peki Upper Zone Project. We initially completed an access and haulage study followed by a mining method assessment study. Based on these, the sublevel caving method was chosen to form the basis of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study, with a dual decline and conveyor arrangement for mine access. SRK was responsible for the geology, geotechnical engineering, mine planning, cost estimation, closure planning, technical economics, risk assessment facilitation, and study management components of the 2017 PEA and NI 43-101 reports.
After the PEA, and as part of the prefeasibility study, our mining team conducted several optimization studies and contributed substantially to the preparation of a mine de-risking and capital reduction program. As a result, the client adopted a phased project development approach and engaged SRK to take on the mine planning and costing. We designed the underground mine layout to support Nevsun’s “Mine of the Future” initiative by allowing for mobile equipment to be upgraded to electrical or automated equivalents as technology advances throughout the mine’s life. We also worked on the mine engineering and geotechnical aspects of the feasibility study.
