Aquila tables feasibility study for Back Forty in Michigan

Nearly two months after receiving its final environmental permit, Aquila Resources (TSX: AQA; US-OTC: AQARF) has tabled a positive feasibility study for its Back Forty polymetallic project, located 19 km west of Stephenson, Michigan. “We can now focus the company’s resources on the pre-construction phase at Back Forty while considering funding alternatives to complete the development of the project,” Aquila president and CEO Barry Hildred states in a press release. At the end of March, the company had US$14.9 million in cash, with another US$47.5 million on the way in staged payments from Osisko Gold Royalties (TSX: OR; NYSE: OR), which bought a gold stream on the project last year. The project has a US$208 million after-tax net present value at a 6% discount rate and a 28.2% after-tax internal rate of return with a 2.2 year payback period. The project would produce 468,000 oz. gold and 512 million lb. zinc over seven years. It would cost an initial US$294 million to fund a two-year construction phase with US$110.6 million in sustaining costs. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.