MAI, IAU, ORS
Minera Alamos aka MAI recently acquired the Copperstone mine in Arizona to complement their Mexican operations. Now we get their first economic study for Copperstone in the form of a PEA which uses $1800/oz Au as its base case. It should be noted that Copperstone is already fully permitted
Although we can expect the numbers to improve as more study is done, they already look good. The PEA envisages an underground mine with a 5.6 year mine life with average production of ~40k oz Au per year. The after tax IRR is 53.6% with a payback period of less than 2 years, and with very low initial capex of $36M since there is already so much infrastructure on site. Life of Mine cash costs are projected at $985/oz Au., and the mine is expected to take only 14 months from start of construction tofull production.
MAi also released a new Resource Report for Copperstone, with 300k oz Indicated @ 7.74 g/t Au plus 197k oz Inferred @ 6.30 g/t Au. This is expected to grow significantly with more exploration.
It is also interesting to note that at the current PoG, the IRR would be over 160%. In my experience it is rare to come across an IRR this high.
Now that the PEA is out, MAI can start serious negotiations to raise the necessary capital, which I expect to be mostly if not entirely via non-dilutive debt, even as they continue optimization studies.
Message 35063218
Nevada gold miner i-80 Gold aka IAU released another PR concerning their recapitalization efforts. (Please excuse me for going on about this, as I find it quite fascinating to watch.)
The main import of this PR is to say that IAU is suspending its At The Market Equity programme, which began last August, during which time a total of 26.7 million shares were issued under the ATM Program for total gross proceeds of $25.1 million, very dilutive. I think this is a positive move, as I don't like these ATMs which allow companies to sell shares on the market any time they want without notification. But, perhaps more importantly, I think it also has a symbolic meaning, signalling that the company is trying to recapitalize in the least dilutive manner for existing shareholders.
IAU also announced that the five PEAs they recently released will be available for inspection on SEDAR by the end of the month.
finance.yahoo.com
Of Late, Orestone Mining aka ORS has been busy acquiring prospects in the south of Argentina. Now we finally get an update on their flagship property, Captain, where they are looking for large Au/Cu porphyriries like those found close to the property in north central BC. So far they have identified T-1, a 2km by 2 km zone of 'porphyry-like' mineralization which ORS thinks is the edge of a large porphyry. Next up they are going to run some geophysics this summer on a similar target they are calling T-2. I wish they were drilling up T-1 more aggressively, but there is no mention of that in this PR.
Message 35064962
Saville opines that for gold to end its recent consolidation and resume the uptrend, we need to see a weekly close above $2975. (And if case you are wondering, he thinks the tariffs are idiotic and likely to trigger a recession followed by stagflation and perhaps even a depression.) |
