Red Dog Mine NANA Mining Lease

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The Red Dog Mine and Deposit is one of the world’s largest producer of zinc concentrate. This area is the NANA Mining lease, but the Red Dog Project comprises three contiguous Properties; the NANA Mining Lease and Exploration Ground (26,142 ha or 64,598 acres), the Noatak Group (32,154 ha or 79,455 acres) and the Noatak Road Group (2,396 ha or 5,920 acres), which together cover approximately 34,550 ha (85,375 acres). The Aqqaluk, Main, Qanaiyaq and Paalaaq Deposits occur within the NANA Mining Lease and the Aŋarraaq Deposit is within the Noatak Group.

Teck Cominco’s subsidiary, Teck Cominco Alaska Limited (TCAK) operates the Red Dog Project pursuant to a Mining Lease and Development and Operating Agreement with the NANA Regional Corporation. Under the agreement, Teck Cominco leases the property from NANA, operates the mine, and markets the concentrate produced. Teck Cominco pays NANA royalties on production from the project.

The Red Dog deposits are stratabound massive sulphide bodies, hosted in Mississippian-age (c. 340 Ma) black shales and mudstones of the Kuna Formation. Mineralization is restricted to the uppermost Ikalukrok unit, a series of finely laminated black, siliceous and carbonaceous shales and mudstones with locally abundant carbonate turbidites. The deposits have similar host rock lithologies, mineral assemblages, and degrees of silicification, but differ in thicknesses, proportions of mineralization types and syles, and average grades. The deposits are structurally separated, occurring within distinct thrust panels within an overall duplex structure.

The mineralization forms a series of lens-shaped stacked pods, with each deposit lying at increasingly greater depths from south to north. From base to top, the deposits are characterized by sulphide veins, massive sulphide, silica rock or silicified barite, sulphide-bearing barite and sulphide-poor barite. Sulphide mineralization consists of semi-massive to massive sphalerite, pyrite, marcasite and galena. Textures include massive, fragmental and veined types. Sedimentary layering within the sulphide zones is rare.

After milling, the concentrate is stored on site then hauled by truck to the port site facility on the Chukchi Sea. The concentrates are stored at the port and then shipped to the contracted smelting facilities during the shipping season between early July and early October.