Levack restart puts Magna on two‑mine track: project economics and risk notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Magna Mining has approved a C$70.1‑million restart of the Levack nickel‑copper mine near Sudbury, targeting mid‑2028 commercial production and forecasting a 92% after‑tax IRR and C$227‑million NPV at a 7% discount rate. The PEA outlines mining 5.75 million short tons over 7.3 years at about 2,140 t/d, producing on average 12.9 million lb/y copper, 10.9 million lb/y nickel and 21,400 oz/y combined PGMs and gold, with operating costs of C$157.80/t and C$168 million sustaining capital. Restart works focus on rehabilitating underground access, refurbishing the production hoist and loading pocket, and leveraging maintained brownfield infrastructure, but the plan proceeds without a feasibility study and relies partly on 2.1 million tons of inferred resources.
Technical Brief
- Restart scope includes rehabilitating underground workings, refurbishing the production hoist and loading pocket, and re-establishing drilling platforms.
- Levack infrastructure has been maintained since 2018 as secondary access for McCreedy West and nearby mines, reducing re-entry degradation risk.
- Updated indicated resource totals 7.8 million tons at 1.12% Cu and 1.48% Ni (175 Mlb Cu, 231 Mlb Ni).
- Inferred resource adds 5.83 million tons at 1.27% Cu and 1.41% Ni (148 Mlb Cu, 164 Mlb Ni), increasing geological uncertainty in mine planning.
- PEA mine plan explicitly incorporates 2.1 million tons of inferred material, elevating resource conversion and dilution risk during early production.
- Magna acknowledges that proceeding without a feasibility study or declared mineral reserves raises the probability of technical and economic failure.
- Three underground drill rigs are currently testing the R2 copper–precious metals zone, targeting resource definition and geotechnical data for future design.
- Early ramp-up is underpinned by higher-grade copper and precious metals zones, concentrating geotechnical and ventilation demands in specific stoping areas.
Our Take
With Levack’s copper and nickel output framed as ‘critical minerals’ in Ontario, this project sits squarely in the same policy space as the cross-government Canadian mining push highlighted in our 7 October 2026 piece on MAC, which can ease federal–provincial alignment for Sudbury-area approvals and infrastructure support.
The after-tax IRR of 92% and NPV uplift at September metal prices position Magna Mining toward the higher-return end of Canadian base-metal restarts in our database, suggesting Levack could be resilient to cost creep compared with many greenfield copper–nickel projects now struggling with capex inflation.
Alpayana’s C$140 million equity stake in Magna gives Levack and Crean Hill an unusual funding backstop for a C$70 million restart, which in practice can reduce financing risk and schedule slippage that have dogged other Ontario underground copper–nickel restarts in recent coverage.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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