COPPER FOX ANNOUNCES SCHAFT CREEK PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT After-Tax NPV8 US$842.1 million (C$1.1billion); IRR 12.9% Pre-Tax NPV8 US$1.4 billion (C$1.8 billion); IRR 15.2% Projected After-Tax Payback 4.8 years Metal Price Assumptions: Cu: US$3.25/lb, Au: US$1,500/oz, Mo: US$10.00/lb, Ag: US$2
COPPER FOX ANNOUNCES SCHAFT CREEK
PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT
After-Tax NPV8 US$842.1 million (C$1.1billion); IRR 12.9%
Pre-Tax NPV8 US$1.4 billion (C$1.8 billion); IRR 15.2%
Projected After-Tax Payback 4.8 years
Metal Price Assumptions: Cu: US$3.25/lb, Au: US$1,500/oz, Mo: US$10.00/lb, Ag: US$20.00/oz
Calgary, Alberta – September 20, 2021. Copper Fox Metals Inc. (“Copper Fox” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:
CUU – OTCQX: CPFXF) is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”)
for the Schaft Creek copper -molybdenum-gold-silver porphyry deposit (the “ Schaft Creek Project”) located in
Tahltan Territory in northwestern British Columbia. The Schaft Creek Project covers 55,779.56 ha of mineral
concessions, located approximately 60 kilometers (“km”) south of Telegraph Creek near existing transportation and
energy infrastructure. The effective date of the PEA is September 10, 2021, a technical report relating to the PEA
will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release. The 2021 PEA will supersede all previous studies and
incorporates the Updated Mineral Resource Estimate announced on March 22, 2021.
The Schaft Creek Project is managed through the Schaft Creek Joint Venture (“Schaft Creek JV”) formed in 2013
between Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”) (75%) and Copper Fox (25%) with Teck being the Operator. The PEA
was prepared by Tetra Tech Canada Inc. (“Tet ra Tech”) as the general contractor on behalf of Copper Fox in
accordance with NI 43-101 standards (May 9, 2016), and CIM Definition Standards (May 19, 2014) with guidance
from CIM Best Practice Guidelines (November 29, 2019). The results of t he PEA are presented on a 100%
project basis and in US$ unless stated otherwise.
PEA Highlights
• Pre-Tax Net Present Value (“NPV8”) of US$1.4 billion and Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 15.2%
• After-Tax NPV8 of US$842.1 million and IRR of 12.9%
• Average annual EBITDA(6) of US$695.4 million based on first 5 years(1) (Years 2-6) at full production, and
US$10.8 billion Life of Mine (“LOM”)
• Average annual Free Cash Flow (“FCF”) before recovery of capital costs of US$633.4 million based on
first 5 years(1) (Years 2-6) at full production and US$9.96 billion LOM
• Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) of US$20.63 per tonne (“t”)
• 21-year Life of Mine (“LOM”) producing approximately 5.0 billion pounds (“lbs”) or 2.3 million tonnes
(“Mt”) copper, 3.7 million ounces (“oz”) gold, 226.0 million lbs molybdenum and 16.4 million oz silver in
concentrate
• 133,000 tonne per day (“tpd”) LOM nominal milling rate at 92% capacity processing 1.030 billion tonnes
(“Bt”) of mill feed LOM, representing approximately 60% of identified mineral resources
• Estimated Initial Capital Costs of US$2.653 billion, not including Sustaining Capital Costs of US$848.7
million which is inclusive of US$154.0 million Closure Costs. Operating Costs are estimated to be
US$8.66/t processed
• C1 Cost(7) (net of by-product credits); for first 5 years(1) (Years 2-6) at full production of US$0.46 per
pound of payable copper and US$1.00 per pound payable copper LOM
2
• All in Sustaining Costs(7) for first 5 years(1) (Years 2-6) at full production of US$0.72 per pound payable
copper and US$1.18 per pound payable copper LOM
The results of the PEA are preliminary in nature. The PEA includes a combination of indicated and inferred
mineral resources which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied
that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA forecasts will
be realized or that any of the resources will ever be upgraded to reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral
reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Elmer B. Stewart, President and CEO of Copper Fox stated: “We are very pleased with the results of the PEA and
the recommended program work of C$23 million that could be considered by the Operator to advance the Schaft
Creek Project to the Pre -Feasibility Study (“PFS”) stage of study and evaluation . The significantly higher
investment returns, resulting in part from project enhancements developed over the past 2 years , and remaining
resources in the deposit on completion of the first 21 years of min ing, provides a compelling view of the Schaft
Creek Project’s financial potential. The smaller project “footprint” and ability to access hydroelectric power from
the existing provincial power grid is expected to reduce capital costs, as well as lower CO2 emissions and the impact
on the environment when compared to other large copper development opportunities. The Schaft Creek Project is
a copper-molybdenum-gold-silver conventional truck-and-shovel development opportunity with scale, optionality
and is in a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction. In the first 5 years of full operation, the Schaft Creek Project has the potential
to produce, on average, 398 million copper equivalent pounds (181Kt) per year.”
Key Changes from Previous Technical Study in 2013
• Updated mine plan that reduced the strip ratio from 2.16:1 to 1:1
• LOM average operating cost per tonne processed reduced from US$13.25/t to US$8.66/t.
• Initial capital costs reduced from US$3.26 billion to US$2.65 billion
• Sustaining Capital Costs reduced from US$1.20 billion to US$848.7 million
• Re-location of the milling facility closer to the pit
• Re-location of the Tailing Management Facility (TMF) closer to the milling facility
• Embankments in TMF reduced from three to two
• Waste rock storage facilities reduced from three to two
Summary of PEA Economic Model
The PEA, Pre-Tax and After-Tax project economic analysis (reflecting constant 2021 US dollars) of the Schaft
Creek Project is based on payable metal and was prepared on a 100% basis using revenues and costs projected into
the future on an annual basis and then discounted using mid year discounting at a rate of 8% per annum to yield the
NPV and IRR. Net Smelter Return, Capital, Operating and Sustaining Costs, Closure Costs, Net Proceeds Interests
payments, BC Mineral Tax, and Federal and Provincial income taxes are included in the financial analysis. Metal
prices are based on Long Term consensus metal prices (Energy and Metals Consensus Forecast, inflation adjusted
pricing dated June 2021). Notes to accompany the tables are included at the end of this news release.
3
The Operational Summary for the PEA, is set out below:
Category Unit Total (1) Annual Average (2)
Years
2 to 6
First 10
years LOM
Years
2 to 6
First 10
years LOM
Mining
Total Material Moved Mt 546.3 1,236.4 2,073.6 109.3 123.6 98.7
Processing
Total Material Processed Mt 243.0 469.0 1,030.2 48.6 46.9 49.1
Head grade - copper % 0.288 0.281 0.265 0.288 0.281 0.265
Head grade - gold g/t 0.203 0.187 0.157 0.203 0.187 0.157
Head grade - silver % 1.225 1.202 1.229 1.225 1.202 1.229
Head grade - molybdenum g/t 0.014 0.015 0.017 0.014 0.015 0.017
Production
Copper Mlbs 1,290.3 2,429.4 4,994.6 258.1 242.9 237.8
Gold kozs 1,162.5 2,045.7 3,695.0 232.5 204.6 176.0
Silver kozs 3,848.8 7,208.6 16,412.5 769.8 720.9 781.5
Molybdenum klbs 45,459 89,838 226,457 9,092 8,984 10,784
Copper equivalent (3) Mlbs 1,990.5 3,694.3 7,497.8 398.1 369.4 357.0
Financial Summary
Revenue (net of TCRC) $USM 5,867.4 10,867.4 21,959.1 1,173.5 1,086.7 1045.7
Site Operating costs $USM (2,092.5) (4,337.8) (8,921.5) (418.5) (433.8) (424.8)
Concentrate transportation costs $USM (181.4) (342.1) (709.4) (36.3) (34.2) (33.8)
NPI & Other Offisite Costs $USM (45.3) (200.4) (593.1) (9.1) (20.0) (28.2)
EBITDA(6) $USM 3,477.1 5,813.5 10,812.9 695.4 581.3 514.9
Free Cash Flow (including Initial Capex) $USM 747.4 2,578 7,376 124.6 257.8 351.2
Free Cash Flow (excluding Initial Capex) (1) $USM 3,167 5,231 9,964 633.4 523.1 474.5
Cash Costs (4)
Before by-product credits $US/lb.Cu (2.17) (2.40) (2.56) (2.17) (2.40) (2.56)
After by-product credits $US/lb.Cu (0.46) (0.77) (1.00) (0.46) (0.77) (1.00)
All-in sustaining costs $US/lb.Cu (0.72) (1.00) (1.18) (0.72) (1.00) (1.18)
Capital Costs
Initial Capital (direct, indirect, contingency) $USM (2,653.2)
Sustaining Costs $USM (334.4) (541.8) (848.7) (66.9) (54.2) (40.4)
Closure costs $USM included in sustaining capex
Economic Summary
Pre-Tax
Net Present Value (8%) $USM 1,383.5
Internal Rate of Return % 15.2
Payback Pre-Tax (5) years 4.4
Post-Tax
Net Present Value (8%) $USM 842.1
Internal Rate of Return % 12.9
Payback Post-Tax (5) years 4.8
Revenue split by commodity is copper (66.6%), gold (22.7%), molybdenum (9.3%) and silver (1.3%).
4
The PEA After-Tax Annual and Cumulative FCFs, EBITDA and Capital Cost Expenditure are shown below:
5
The sensitivity and incremental percentage change (8% discount rate) of the EBITDA, Free Cash Flow (FCF) and
NPV based on incremental changes in metal prices, FOREX (CADUSD), Operating costs (Opex), and Initial
Capital costs on after-tax basis are shown below:
1
st
5 years EBITDA
Base Case
US$695M
1
st
5 years After-Tax FCF
Base Case
US$574M
After-Tax NPV
Base Case
US$842M
CADUSD
(+/- 10
points)
Copper Price
(+/- $0.25/lb)
Opex
(+/- 5%)
Gold
(+/- $100/oz)
Initial Capex
(+/- 5%)
Molybdenum
(+/- $1.00/lb)
Silver
(+/- $1/oz)
Note: Green represents an increase in the input variable; grey represents a decrease. Base Case=The economic
analysis in this news release.
Note: Images in this news release can be seen on the PDF version of the news release located on SEDAR and
our website www.copperfoxmetals.com.
After-Tax Schaft Creek Project Economics
The After-tax NPV and IRR , after applicable Federal and Provincial tax are deducted, are US$842.1 million and
12.9%. Payback of initial capital is achieved in 4.8 years from commencement of operations. The BC Mineral Tax
(Provincial Resource Tax) is deductible from Federal and Provincial taxes payable. Federal, Provincial and BC
Mineral Tax payable based on the PEA financial model are outlined below:
Estimated Taxes Payable
Tax Component LOM Amount (C$M)
Corporate Tax (Federal) 1,432
Corporate Tax (Provincial) 1,145
BC Mineral Tax 1,198
Total Taxes 3,775
695;
(0%)
687;
(1%)
695;
0%
674;
(3%)
715;
3%
636;
(9%)
662;
(5%)
696;
0%
704;
1%
695;
0%
717;
3%
675;
(3%)
755;
9%
724;
4%
573;
(0%)
568;
(1%)
567;
(1%)
558;
(3%)
587;
2%
532;
(7%)
558;
(3%)
574;
0%
580;
1%
580;
1%
589;
3%
560;
(2%)
615;
7%
587;
2%
852;
(0%)
814;
(5%)
928;
9%
778;
(9%)
943;
10%
613;
(28%)
566;
(34%)
857;
0%
895;
5%
781;
(9%)
931;
9%
766;
(10%)
1,094;
28%
1,098;
29%
6
Capital Cost Estimates
The major items of the initial capital cost estimate (accuracy of +/- 30%), as of Q4 2020 which covers direct field
costs, indirect costs associated with design, construction, and commissioning with no allowances for inflation or
escalation, are outlined below. The estimates are consistent with a Class 5 e stimate. Capital intensity (excluding
contingency) is estimated to be approximately C$20,200 (US$15,500) per operating tonne and C$17,200
(US$13,200) per operating tonne of payable CuEq(3) production. (Note: CuEq is estimated using accepted
metallurgical recovery for each metal and the metal price assumptions used in this PEA).
Initial Capital Costs
C$M US$M
Direct Costs
Overall site 178.3 137.3
Mining 245.2 188.8
Primary Crushing 65.3 50.3
Stockpile & Reclaim 54.3 41.8
Grinding, Flotation and Regrind 649.4 500.0
Tailing Management Facility (TMF) 178.2 137.2
Site Services and Site Utilities 38.3 29.5
Ancillary Buildings 153.0 117.8
Plant Mobile Fleet 8.8 6.8
Temporary Services 5.6 4.3
Off-site Infrastructure and Facilities 106.8 82.2
Total Direct Costs $1,683.2 $1,296.1
Indirect Costs 1,001.3 771.0
Total Indirect Costs $1,001.3 $771.0
Total Direct and Indirect Costs $2,684.5 $2,067.1
Contingency (@25.0%) + provisions 761.2 586.1
Total Initial Capital $3,447.3 $2,653.2
Sustaining Costs
The main components of the LOM sustaining capital are set out below:
LOM Sustaining Capital
Area US$M
Mining 335.15
Tailings 239.96
Process/Infrastructure 48.46
Environmental Monitoring 40.39
BC Hydro 30.77
Closure 154.0
Total Sustaining Capital 848.73
7
Operating Costs
The LOM site unit operating cash costs per tonne processed are set out below:
Note: Mining includes the cost of mining waste and processed material. The LOM average strip ratio is
estimated to be 1:1.
PEA Project Description Update
Social and Environment
Copper Fox completed environmental baseline work on the Schaft Creek project between 2006 and 2013 . Since
2013 additional environmental baseline work has been carried out by the Schaft Creek JV. Copper Fox is committed
to working with its JV partner to develop and operat e the Schaft Creek Project in a safe, ethically and socially
responsible manner while maximizing benefits and economic opportunities for local First Nations and other
communities, including employment, training, and using local service providers.
A review of the current Provincial and Federal environmental regulations indicates that the PEA project design
should not present any issues pursuant to Provincial and Federal requirements in the Environmental Assessment
process.
Reclamation plans for the TMF, open pit and waste rock are set out in the PEA. These plans will be considered and
updated throughout design, construction, and operation of the Schaft Creek Project to help ensure that these
objectives can be achieved.
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate
The Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Schaft Creek Project was announced on March 22, 2021.
Approximately 80% of the mineral resources in the Schaft Creek deposit are classified as Measured and Indicated.
Click here for news release
Mining
Mining of the Schaft Creek deposit is planned as a conventional truck -shovel open-pit mining operation. Total
mine production is estimated to be 1.03 Bt of mill feed and 1.03 Bt of waste rock resulting in a LOM 1:1 strip ratio.
Annual mined tonnes range from 46.9 to 165.0 Mt, averaging 98.7 Mt LOM. The 21 -year mine plan utilizes
approximately 60% of the mineral resource base and provides options to extend mine life and/or increase s in
throughput.
Mining operation will commence in an area of higher-grade material for processing in year s 1 -5 of milling
operations before transitioning to the south end of the Liard zone. The push back to the north results in increased
annual tonnes of waste mined to provide access to mineralization mined in the next phase of the mine plan . The
final phase extends to the ultimate pit bottom which based on the resource block model would end in mineralization.
LOM Processing Costs
Area US$/t processed
Mining 3.11
Processing 4.08
G&A 0.79
Surface Services 0.25
Tailings Management 0.11
Concentrate Transportation 0.32
Total 8.66
8
The mine plan includes a stockpiling strategy to ensure optimal LOM mill feed grade. Run-of-mine ore would be
delivered to a gyratory crusher at the edge of the pit and transported via conveyor to a coarse ore stockpile near the
mill site.
Waste material will be used for road, TMF and infrastructure construction with the balance stored in two separate
areas located at varying distances from the proposed open pit.
Process Plant
The processing plant is designed with a planned nominal throughput of 133,000 tpd (at 92% capacity). The annual
throughput varies from 48.5 Mt to 51.5 Mt per year averaging 49.1 Mt per year, primarily due to the comminution
characteristics of the mineralization.
The milling process is a conventional grinding and flotation circuit, consisting of two process trains to produce a
high-quality copper concentrate with significant gold and silver by-product credits and a separate molybdenum
concentrate. Each of the process trains consists of SAG mill - ball mills - pebble crushers (‘SABC’) primary
grinding, bulk rougher/scavenger flotation, bulk concentrate regrinding and cleaner flotation circuit s. The bulk
concentrate produced will be separated to produce market grade copper -gold-silver concentrate and molybdenum
concentrate. LOM metal recoveries to copper concentrate containing 28% copper are expected to be 83.1% for
copper, 71.0% for gold and 40.3% for silver. The molybdenum recovery to the molybdenum concentrate
(containing >50% Molybdenum) is estimated to be 60.1%. Tailings would be transported to the TMF through
pipelines.
Forecasted Metal Production
The Schaft Creek copper deposit contains low, but significant gold , molybdenum and silver concentrations. By-
product metal credits account for approximately 33% of the CuEq production attributable to the Schaft Creek
Project. Metal production is highest in the first five years of full production primarily due to mining of higher-grade
mineralization. In the first five years of full production, the average recoverable CuEq production is estimated to be
approximately 398.1 million lbs. (180.6 Kt)
LOM, the copper concentrate is expected to contain on average 28% copper, 14.1 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold and
63.0 g/t silver with a moisture content of 9% and the molybdenum concentrate is expected to average 50%
molybdenum with a moisture content of 5%. The Schaft Creek copper concentrate as modeled is considered a
premium copper concentrate in terms of copper grade, gold-silver by-products and low deleterious element content.
The estimated LOM metal and “dry” copper and molybdenum concentrate production is summarized below.
Concentrate Metal Production
Description
Unit
Years 2-6(1)
Annual
Average
Year 1-10
Annual
Average
LOM
Annual
Average
LOM
Total
Copper Concentrate tonnes (000's) 418 393 385 8,091
Copper in Concentrate Mlbs 258 243 238 4,995
Copper in Concentrate tonnes (000's) 117 110 108 2,266
Gold in Concentrate oz. (000's) 233 205 176 3,695
Silver in Concentrate oz. (000's) 770 721 782 16,413
Molybdenum concentrate tonnes 8,248 8,150 9,783 205,439
Molybdenum in Concentrate lbs. (000's) 9,092 8,984 10,784 226,457
Note: (1) Based on first five years of full production. Year 1 is partial year of production and not included. Numbers
are rounded.