BRITISH COLUMBIA – Pretium Resources of Vancouver has updated the feasibility study for the Brucejack gold project 60 km north of Stewart, and the economics are positive for a high grade underground gold mine. Over an expected life of 18 years, the project is expected to yield 7.27 million oz of gold. Output will average 504,000 oz annually during the first eight years.
The estimated capital cost, including contingencies, to build the project is US$746.9 million. Over the life of the mine, average operating costs are estimated to be C$163.04/tonne milled.
The foregoing estimates represent the base case using US$1,100/oz gold and US$17/oz silver. The pre-tax net present value with a 5% discount is US$2.25 billion and the internal rate of return of 34.7%. The project would pay for itself in 2.7 years.
Bumping up the gold price to US$1,400/oz and the silver price to US$21/oz, the pre-tax NPV at 5% becomes US$3.54 billion and the IRR rises to 47.0%. The pre-tax payback period would shrink to two years.
For the updated feasibility study, Pretium increased the Valley of the Kings proven and probable reserves to 13.6 million tonnes grading 15.7 g/t Au containing 6.9 million oz. The West zone proven and probable reserves are 2.9 million tonnes grading 6.9 g/t containing 600,000 oz of gold.
Additional details are available at Pretivm.com.
Comments