First Mining releases Duparquet PEA
First Mining Gold has announced a preliminary economic assessment for its Duparquet gold project in the Abitibi region of Quebec, Canada for a 15,000tpd open pit and underground mining operation.
Duparquet would produce 233,000ozpa of gold at an all-in-sustaining cost of US$976/oz for 11 years. It would yield an after-tax net present value (NPV) of C$588 million at a 5% discount rate with an 18% internal rate of return (IRR) with a 4.8-year payback at a US$1,800/oz gold price assumption following an initial capital cost of C$706 million. Sustaining and underground development costs are estimated at C$738 million.
The project has a capital efficiency of about US$154/oz, less than the PEA average of US$175/oz. Project economics are estimated to improve to a NPV of C$859 million and IRR of 23.2% at a US$2000/oz gold price.
"The +200,000ozpa production profile, attractive capital and operating cost profile and strategic location of the deposit in the heart of the Abitibi gold belt all contribute to the recognition of Duparquet as one of the most meaningful development projects in Canada," said First Mining Gold chief executive Dan Wilton.
Duparquet hosts resources of more than 5Moz in all categories, with an indicated resource grade of 1.55gpt gold.
Enhancements
First Mining said there are several opportunities to enhance the project economics, including expanding the resource through more exploration and infill drilling, incorporating silver mineralisation into the economics, which the PEA does not include, optimising sustaining capital, development capital and operating costs and consolidating refractory deposits in the region to create a central processing facility to treat feed from other mines.
At the start of the year, the company acquired the Porcupine East property from IAMGOLD, adjacent to Duparque.
The company has about C$10 million in cash in its treasury.
Environmental benefit
The development of Duparquet would include the reclamation of a brownfield site, including the removal and reprocessing of over 4.1Mt of uncontained historical mine tailings and the collection and treatment of historically impacted groundwater.
"Importantly, Duparquet represents a unique opportunity to address the environmental legacy issues from the historical mining operations while delivering an important economic development opportunity for the local and indigenous communities," said Wilton.
Shares in First Mining Gold are trading at 14c, valuing the company at C$112 million.
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