technical report on the nechalacho deposit, thor lake project ...

completion of the 30 m to 50 m long stope access crosscuts (some of which will be developed
for material storage as the access to the ventilation raise is being driven).
Initial mine development will be undertaken by a mine development contractor to provide the
skills needed to complete the work. As the main development is completed the work will shift to
company crews and equipment for the production phase of the operation.
The initial mine development will not leave a large amount of access development to be
completed by company crews for the mineral reserves as known and as included in this <strong>report</strong>.
The development schedule does not include any allowance for exploration development or for
the development of underground diamond drill stations for further exploration of the deposit.
PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Mine production will come from primary stopes which are planned to be developed from the
stope access crosscut. Each 5 m high by 15 m wide cut will generate approximately 20,000
tonnes of ore. The mine production schedule has been set at 1,000 tpd for years one to four
and 2,000 tpd thereafter.
Initial production will be attained without backfill to allow deferral of the cost of the backfill plant
construction and accordingly the production for the first 60 months will all be from primary
stopes. Thereafter the backing of primary stope voids will be a high priority task and by month
61 production will start to be obtained from secondary stopes.
The production schedule was developed based on mining of the highest value ore in the early
years. Feed grades at Thor Lake do not vary over a wide range but there are higher grade
areas and the zone at the bottom of the Basal Zone carries the highest grades. The Production
schedule is shown in Table 18-11.
The deposit is flat lying but there are variations in elevation interpreted at the bottom of the ore
body. To minimize dilution stopes were, as much as practival, aligned perpendicular to the dip
of the footwall of the orebody.
Material at the upper elevations will have decreasing grades as the stope moves up and the
control for the upper limits will be an assay control.
At the planned production rates this generates a mine life of 18 years from the Basal Zone
Probable Mineral Reserves.
Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 18-32
Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.