GOLD DEVELOPMENT: Final permits received for Rubicon’s Phoenix project

ONTARIO – Vancouver-based Rubicon Minerals has obtained the final permits for the Phoenix gold project near Red Lake. The permit to take water, the industrial sewage certificate of approval, and the air certificate of approval were the final three to be received. The company is now targeting 2013 for the first gold pour.

The preliminary economic assessment made in 2011 examined an operation that will produce 180,000 oz of gold per year for 12 years. At US$1,500/oz gold, the net present value (5%) is $933 million, the pre-tax internal rate of return is 48%, and the project would pay for itself two years after production begins. The initial capital requirement is $214 million (including a 30% contingency) to develop a conventional cut-and-fill underground mine and mill.

Rubicon closed a $200-million bought deal financing earlier this year.

Readers may enjoy the large Phoenix project photo gallery at RubiconMinerals.com.