In first Canadian foray, Denham enters into $65m partnership with project developer JDS Silver

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Private equity firm Denham Capital has agreed to back private project developer JDS Silver by providing $65-million to complete construction and bring into production the Silvertip mine, in northern British Columbia.

At a 30% zinc-equivalent grade, the Silvertip project has one of the highest-grade zinc deposits globally, in addition to silver and lead. JDS started construction in December and expects the asset to produce first concentrates this week.

“Working with Denham has been essential in proving the unique model for the execution of a project like Silvertip and we are very proud of our partnership. The combination of our development and operational capabilities along with the firm’s equity capital and strategic expertise has allowed us to expedite the construction and development of the Silvertip mine into production,” stated JDS Silver CEO Jeff Stibbard.

Before JDS, Stibbard had founded JDS Energy and Mining, a full service engineering consulting business; co-founded Western Oil Sands, where he led the production of the 450 000 t/d Meskeg River oil sands mine; and was responsible for construction of BHP Billiton’s $1-billion Ekati diamond mine, in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

He is joined by a team with more than 100 years of experience in identifying and maximising the value of stranded mining assets that includes president Brent Gilchrist, COO Kevin Weston, CFO Richard Godfrey and VP of finance Andrew Malashewsky.

“Our partnership with JDS Silver is a perfect example of our team-first approach. Its proven record and comprehensive engineering and evaluation knowledge were instrumental in bringing this historic mine to fruition, along with our capital. We eagerly anticipate the next stage in Silvertip’s life and look forward to working with this team on future endeavours,” Denham Capital director Caroline Donally said.

Located about 16 km south of the Yukon border and 90 km south-west of Watson Lake, in northern British Columbia, the Silvertip mine is located within the Silvertip Creek valley, in the Tootsee River Watershed. When applying a 200 g/t silver-equivalent cutoff, the deposit has a compliant indicated resource of 2.35-million tonnes grading 352 g/t silver, 6.73% lead and 9.41% zinc, as well as an inferred resource of 2.8-million tonnes grading 350.53 g/t silver, 6.64% lead and 9.48% zinc.