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Paramount Gold Nevada Corp Announces Positive Initial Assessment of the Sleeper Gold Project
Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. announced the results of an Initial Assessment prepared in accordance with S-K 1300 for its 100%-owned Sleeper Gold Project, a past-producing gold mine located in Humboldt County, Nevada. The Assessment evaluates the potential restart of the historic Sleeper Mine through the processing of existing waste rock dumps and mining of in situ oxide and mixed Mineral Resources utilizing conventional open-pit mining and a 30,000 tonne per day crush-agglomerate-heap-leach processing facility with Merrill-Crowe recovery. The Project demonstrates strong economics, based on assumed metal prices of $3,600 per ounce gold and $48 per ounce silver, including an after-tax net present value (NPV) at an 8% discount rate of $402 million, an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 44%, and a payback period of approximately 1.4 years. The Assessment includes sensitivity analysis to higher commodity prices amongst other inputs. Assuming metal prices of $4,700 per ounce gold and $80 per ounce silver, the Project's after-tax NPV (8%) increases to $867 million, with an IRR of 66% and a payback period of 1.2 years. Over a 17-year mine life, the Assessment projects average annual gold production of approximately 65,000 ounces and total payable gold production of approximately 1.1 million ounces. The use of existing mineralized surface material and existing infrastructure contributes to the Project’s strong economics by reducing upfront capital requirements and leads to the expected, short payback period. Approximately 47 million tonnes of mineralized waste dump material containing approximately 420,000 recoverable ounces of gold are included in the mine plan, representing a significant, lower-cost source of early production and cash flow prior to initiation of open pit mining. The economic analysis considers only oxide and mixed mineralized material amenable to heap leaching, and does not include sulfide mineralization, which will be evaluated in subsequent studies. The following table summarizes key metrics from the Assessment, including an upside case at higher metal prices. After-tax NPV (8%) is $402 million in the base case and $867 million in the upside case. After-tax IRR is 45% in the base case and 66% in the upside case. Payback is 1.4 years in the base case and 1.2 years in the upside case. Average annual gold production is 65,000 ounces. Average annual silver production is 205,000 ounces. Total payable gold is 1.101 million ounces. Total payable silver is 3.376 million ounces. Mine life is 17 years. Initial capital is $201 million. Sustaining capital is $343 million. Closure capital is $52 million. Cash costs are $2,048/oz in the base case and $1,987/oz in the upside case. All-in sustaining costs are $2,407/oz in the base case and $2,346/oz in the upside case. Production and capital cost metrics are unchanged across both price cases. Cash costs consist of mining costs, dewatering costs, processing costs, mine-level G&A, refining charges and royalties, net of by-product credits. AISC includes cash costs plus sustaining capital and closure costs, net of silver by-product credits, at the project level. The reported AISC reflects the benefit of low-cost ounces already stacked on the existing heap leach pads, which require minimal additional spending to recover. As these legacy ounces are depleted and replaced with newly mined material, unit costs are expected to gradually normalize toward long-term levels. The following table compares the Project’s economics over the first five years of operations to the full 17-year mine life. Over the life of the mine, the Project is expected to produce approximately 1.10 million ounces of gold and 3.38 million ounces of silver, generating cumulative after-tax cash flow of approximately $918 million in the base case and $1.93 billion in the upside case. In the first five years, mineralized tonnes mined are 51,000, waste tonnes mined are 37,000, total tonnes mined are 88,000, strip ratio is 0.74, gold production is 348,000 ounces, silver production is 1,329,000 ounces, mining costs are $2.24/t, pit dewatering is $0.33/t, processing costs are $5.55/t, G&A costs are $0.52/t, after-tax cash flow is $514 million in the base case and $826 million in the upside case, cumulative cash flow is $307 million in the base case and $619 million in the upside case, all-in sustaining costs are $1,854/oz in the base case and $1,934/oz in the upside case, after-tax IRR is 41% in the base case and 63% in the upside case, after-tax NPV at 8% is $190 million in the base case and $403 million in the upside case. For the life of mine, mineralized tonnes mined are 175,000, waste tonnes mined are 266,000, total tonnes mined are 442,000, strip ratio is 1.52, gold production is 1,101,000 ounces, silver production is 3,376,000 ounces, mining costs are $2.53/t, pit dewatering is $0.59/t, processing costs are $5.55/t, G&A costs are $0.52/t, after-tax cash flow is $918 million in the base case and $1,928 million in the upside case, cumulative cash flow is $918 million in the base case and $1,928 million in the upside case, all-in sustaining costs are $2,407/oz in the base case and $2,346/oz in the upside case, after-tax IRR is 45% in the base case and 66% in the upside case, after-tax NPV at 8% is $402 million in the base case and $872 million in the upside case. The Mineral Resource estimate presented below reflects updated geological interpretations, revised economic parameters, and updated metallurgical recovery assumptions. The estimate includes in situ oxide, mixed and sulfide mineralization, as well as surface material contained in waste rock dumps, heap leach pads, and the tailings storage facility, which is classified as Inferred. The Project hosts 1.99 million ounces of gold in Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources and an additional 2.30 million ounces of gold in Inferred Mineral Resources, compared to 1.90 million ounces and 1.21 million ounces, respectively, in the 2023 Mineral Resource estimate. This represents an increase of approximately 5% in Measured and Indicated Resources and 90% in Inferred Resources, significantly expanding the Project's resource base and future growth potential. Measured resources are 5.5 million tonnes at 0.492 g/t Au for 0.09 million ounces gold and 3.487 g/t Ag for 0.62 million ounces silver. Indicated resources are 179.2 million tonnes at 0.330 g/t Au for 1.90 million ounces gold and 3.842 g/t Ag for 22.1 million ounces silver. Measured & Indicated resources are 184.7 million tonnes at 0.335 g/t Au for 1.99 million ounces gold and 3.832 g/t Ag for 22.8 million ounces silver. Inferred resources are 238.0 million tonnes at 0.301 g/t Au for 2.30 million ounces gold and 3.403 g/t Ag for 26.0 million ounces silver.