Selkirk Copper Announces Positive PEA for the Minto Project, Delivering After-Tax NPV of C$494M with 48% IRR
Selkirk’s PEA delivers a C$494M NPV at planning prices, though the downside case is nearly zero.
Selkirk Copper Mines Inc. (SCMI) released the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the restart of its 100%-owned Minto copper-gold-silver project in Yukon. This marks the first economic study ever published on the restart and represents the single most valuation-relevant disclosure in the company's history to date.
Selkirk Copper Mines Inc. (TSXV: SCMI; OTCQB: SKRKF; Frankfurt: IO20) completed a reverse takeover and three-cornered amalgamation on 29 October 2025, acquiring 100% of the former Minto copper-gold-silver mine from Selkirk First Nation (SFN) affiliates. The company’s legal name change from Venerable Ventures Ltd. was delayed by a BC Registries job action, but trading resumed on the TSXV under the ticker SCMI on 4 November 2025. The OTCQB listing began trading on 13 February 2026 with DTC eligibility.
The company’s flagship asset is the Minto Project, a past-producing mine located in central Yukon, approximately 250 km north of Whitehorse on the Klondike Highway within the Minto-Carmacks copper belt. Selkirk Copper Mines controls 26,850 hectares of mineral claims. The geology is characterized by structurally controlled, migmatised chalcopyrite-bornite-(magnetite) bearing schist, representing a strongly metamorphosed calc-alkaline porphyry- or IOCG-like system. Mineralisation occurs in multiple shallow-dipping lenses, with 69 mineralised lenses identified across the central mine area.
Existing infrastructure includes a 4,100 tpd process plant featuring a SAG mill, two ball mills, flotation cells, concentrate thickening and filtration, and an assay lab. The site also supports a 400-person camp, water treatment plant, main power line and substation, fuel farm, maintenance shops, warehouse, airstrip, concentrate storage shed, and extensive underground development. The company values this reusable infrastructure at over C$330M, and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) confirms that negligible capital is required for most of it. Mining operations ceased as recently as May 2023.
Historic production between 2007 and 2023 ranged from 70,000 to 1,969,000 tonnes of open-pit ore and 20,000 to 1,480,000 tonnes of underground ore annually, with copper recoveries of 82-97%. The metallurgical process yields a single copper-gold-silver concentrate targeting 36-40% Cu, 12-18 g/t Au, and 100-150 g/t Ag, with low deleterious elements, positioning the product as a premium-quality concentrate.
Logistics involve a 27 km site access road and a Yukon River crossing by barge or ice bridge, which presents a seasonal constraint. From there, material travels 425 km on the Klondike Highway to the Port of Skagway, Alaska, for tidewater shipment. An 18,000 t on-site concentrate shed covers periods when the river cannot be crossed.
The project operates under a commercial and operating partnership with the Selkirk First Nation, which serves as both the largest equity holder and the royalty holder. An Indigenous engagement function has been staffed, and a pro-mining Yukon Party majority government was elected in November 2025.
Qualified Persons associated with the project include Sue Bird, P.Eng. (MMTS), for the 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE); Leif Bailey, P.Geo., Director of Geoscience & Exploration, for the 14 September 2026 NI 43-101 filing; and Scott Fulton, P.Eng., VP Engineering, for the PEA news release. Bailey and Fulton are noted as non-independent.