10:03 AM EST - Mercator Minerals Ltd. : announced the results of an optimized feasibility study that confirms the potential development of a robust, large-scale, low-cost copper mine at the El Pilar project, located in the mining friendly jurisdiction within the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Base Case. Highlights (all amounts in U.S. dollars and metric tonnes unless otherwise indicated); Net present value after-tax, discounted at 8%, of $335.3 million; Internal rate of return after-tax, of 35.7%; Payback period of 1.7 years; Life-of-mine average annual production of 73.0 million pounds of copper cathode, with copper cathode production averaging 78.7 million pounds in the first five years; Expected average life of mine total cash operating costs are $1.37 per pound of payable copper, average $1.27 per pound in the first five years, and $0.94 per pound in the first year. Mercator Minerals Ltd.
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