"Increased Mineral Reserves in the Boliden Area has added equivalent to almost
two years of production which is important for us. Also, exploration continues
to give good results in Nautanen north of Aitik where we are working to
eventually secure an environmental permit," says Stefan Romedahl, President
Boliden Mines.
The cost of exploration in 2023 was SEK 853 m (770).
Aitik
In Aitik, Liikavaara is just about to come into production. Liikavaara is a part
of Aitik Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve and will be included in the
production from 2024. Exploration and evaluation are also underway at the
Nautanen deposit approximately 15 km north of Aitik, which is reported
separately.
An improved and more specified cost model led to pit design changes and
increased Mineral Reserves of 12 Mtonnes, despite mining of 41 Mtonnes in 2023.
The Mineral Resource, which in the open pit involves tonnage that, with today's
estimated prices and costs, lies outside the planned final open pit, decreased
by 200 Mtonnes.
The Boliden Area
In the Boliden Area, the total Mineral Reserves increased by 1.2 Mtonnes (10%)
mainly by converting mineral resources in the Rävliden mineralisation in
Kristineberg. New resources added by exploration have been limited and since
larger quantities are converted to reserves the resources have decreased with
2.0 Mtonnes (7%). 1.6 Mtonnes were milled in the Boliden Area in 2023.
Garpenberg
In Garpenberg, successful exploration activities, infill drilling and technical
studies have for many years given a significant increase in both Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves. However, this year the reserve decreased by 8.4
Mtonnes (8%) due to higher cut-off, redesign and 3.1 Mtonnes milled in 2023. The
resource increased marginally with 0.5 Mtonnes (0.6%).
Kevitsa
The mining waste dilution in the upper parts of the new push-back is higher than
in deeper central parts of the pit. That has affected plans and the Mineral
Reserve grades. Grades are down by approximately 10 percent. The uncertain
permit situation for the tailing dam expansion has caused 20 Mtonnes to be
converted back from reserve to resource. The Mineral Reserve has decreased with
19 Mtonnes (19%) while the Mineral Resource increased with 25 Mtonnes (17%). 9.8
Mtonnes were milled in 2023.
Tara
Tara was placed under care and maintenance in July 2023. That also stopped all
exploration towards Tara Deep. The existing Life of Mine Plan remains
economically feasible with long term assumptions and Mineral Reserves are still
declared for Tara. No new resource estimations have been made, and the reserves
and resources are last year's figures minus mining of 1.1 Mtonnes until
operations stopped. Preparatory work, including a new production plan, is
underway for a possible restart in 2024.
About the classification
Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are estimated separately and divided into
different categories. Conditions in the form of costs and metal prices are
established at the beginning of the year and used in all estimates made during
the year. Boliden's Mineral Resources are exclusive of Mineral Reserves. When a
Mineral Resource is converted to a Mineral Reserve, the quantity is removed from
the Mineral Resource.
Boliden follows the recommendations of the Swedish Mining Association (SveMin)
for reporting exploration results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and
strives to report according to the Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting
Committee (PERC). The PERC standard has clear requirements for documentation and
the Competent Persons, who must evaluate the information that companies report.
All summary reports for Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves per project and mine available on the Boliden
website, are reviewed and approved by the competent persons presented in the
respective report. This summary of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves has
been reviewed and approved by Gunnar Agmalm, Competent Person and Head of Ore
Reserves and Project Evaluation, Boliden, who is a member of The Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and The Fennoscandian Association
for Metals and Minerals Professionals (FAMMP), both of which are approved
organizations for competent persons according to PERC.
Planning prices Long-term prices 2023 Change compared to 2022
Zinc USD 2,800/tonne +200
Copper USD 7,800/tonne +600
Nickel USD 20,000/tonne +3 000
Lead USD 2,000/tonne
Gold USD 1,400/troy oz.
Silver USD 20/ troy oz.
Palladium USD 1,300/ troy oz.
Platinum USD 900/ troy oz.
Cobalt USD 20/lb
Tellurium USD 35/kg
Molybdenum USD 8/lb
USD/SEK 9.0
EUR/SEK 9.90
EUR/USD 1.10
Boliden uses the planning prices as a basis for estimations of Mineral Resources
and Mineral Reserves as well as, for example, for calculations on investments
and operational development.
For further information, please contact:
Klas Nilsson, Director Group Communications, tel: +46 (0)70-453 65 88
klas.nilsson@boliden.com
This information is information that Boliden AB is obliged to make public
pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for
publication, through the agency of Director Communications, at 07.49 CET on
February 8, 2024.
Boliden's vision is to be the most climate-friendly and respected metal provider
in the world. We are Europe's producer of sustainable metals and, guided by our
values care, courage and responsibility, we operate within exploration, mines,
smelters and recycling. We are around 6,000 employees and have annual revenues
of approximately SEK 80 billion. The share is listed in the Large Cap segment of
NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.