top of page
Homepage Anchor
Gold mining underground_edited.jpg

POTENTIAL Near-Term
Zinc Development

DRIVING TOWARDS OPERATIONS

Olza Project in Poland
  • Established Mining District

  • Structured, clear & transparent mine permitting process

COMPELLING ZINC PROJECT 
  • Forecast Positive Returns with Strong Operating Margins, Cash Flow

  • Good Upside Potential

Overview  

Rathdowney Resources Ltd. is a Canadian publicly-traded company (TSXV:RTH) whose primary focus is developing and permitting its flagship, 100%-owned Olza zinc-lead-silver development project in Poland.

 

Located in the Upper Silesian Mining District of Poland, historical drilling indicated the presence of extensive Mississippi Valley-Type zinc-lead deposits in the project-area, which has been confirmed as a result of Rathdowney's work.

Drilling programs have led to estimates of significant mineral resources at Project Olza, with excellent potential for expansion across the large property. Preliminary metallurgical testwork on Olza mineralization showed that standard flotation will result in high quality zinc and lead concentrates. Strong results from a preliminary economic assessment of a 6,000 tonnes per day underground mine and processing facility for Project Olza were announced in April 2015.

Rathdowney's current work is designed to advance project evaluation and development planning, and to support permitting as outlined for projects in Poland. Baseline environmental data collection is well-advanced and engineering studies are progressing. The Company has recently embarked on a two-year plan to secure a Mining License for the project, and is actively engaged with potential sources for financing to support the plan.

Rathdowney is associated with Hunter Dickinson Inc. (HDI), a diversified, global mining group with more than 35 years of demonstrated success in finding mines worldwide.

Project Olza

Olza is located in Poland's Upper Silesian Mining District, a region of world-class Mississippi Valley-Type zinc-lead deposits, which has a supportive and vast mining history. Olza is located north of the nearby Pomerzany Mine that has produced +90 Mt over the past 40 years. The district is home to a local skilled workforce and well-established infrastructure that would support mine development. Power and housing are locally available. A railway line runs through the Olza project-area, linking it to the ZGHB smelter (about 25 km from the site) and to ports on the Baltic Sea, providing access to smelters in the rest of Europe.

 

Extensive prior drilling and historical estimates by the Polish State Geological Institute ("PSGI") indicated substantial zinc-lead deposits with the potential for significant resources in the Olza area. Rathdowney drilling in a small portion of this area (~30% of historical resource) produced an inferred resource of 24.4 Mt of 7.02% Zn+Pb (5.53% Zn and 1.49% Pb), which formed the basis for a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") announced in 2015.
 

The PEA forecasts strong potential financial returns for a 6,000 tonnes per day underground, room and pillar, mine with on-site processing facility at Project Olza, including an after-tax Internal Rate of Return of 30%; a US$170 million Net Present Value and a 2.4-year payback. Moreover, the PEA forecasts US$125 million of free cash flow annually. This type of initial cash flow would allow for a variable set of project development financing initiatives. And with the excellent potential for resource expansion, Project Olza represents a great opportunity to develop a long life mine.
 
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves because they do not have demonstrated economic viability.

 

The PEA highlights the economic potential of the inferred resources if developed in line with the development plan outlined in the PEA.  In 2023, the Company plans to update the PEA.
 

1

2

1

  1. At a 2% Zn cut-off, as audited and verified by L. Roberts, MAusIMM(CP) of SRK - the independent qualified person for the estimate in the Preliminary Economic Assessment.

  2. Further information on the PEA can be found on the Development/History page on this site

bottom of page