The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Expected to produce roughly 3.6M oz gold over next decade North of 60 Mining News – March 13, 2020
Pretium Resources Inc. March 10 said its Brucejack mine is now expected to average around 357,000 ounces of gold annually over the first 10 years in a new plan for this high-grade gold operation in northwestern British Columbia.
This new mine plan is based on 15.7 million metric tons of proven and probable reserves averaging 8.4 grams per metric ton (4.2 million oz) gold and 59.6 g/t (30.1 million oz) silver.
The bulk of this ore – 12.8 million metric tons averaging 8.8 g/t (3.6 million oz) gold and 10 g/t (4.1 million oz) silver is in the Valley of the Kings deposit. The silver-rich West zone hosts the balance – 2.9 million metric tons averaging 6.8 g/t (600,000 oz) gold and 278.5 g/t (26 million oz) silver.
"Consistent with the preliminary production outlook for post-2020 gold production in the Valley of the Kings announced on Feb. 12, our updated life of mine plan outlines average annual gold production of 367,000 oz for the first nine years while mining primarily in the Valley of the Kings," said Pretium Resources President and CEO Joseph Ovsenek.
Operating costs at Brucejack are forecast to average US$164 per metric ton of ore milled over the first 10 years of the mine plan.
The average all-in sustaining costs – which includes operating, capital and corporate costs – are calculated to be US$747/oz of gold sold over the first 10 years.
As a result, Brucejack is forecast to generate US$181 million in annual post-tax, free cash flow at $1,300/oz gold price.
"At a gold price of $1,600, Brucejack now has an estimated after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of US$2.13 billion over the 13-year mine life. Since achieving commercial production in July 2017, Brucejack has generated over US$500 million of cash flow and is expected to generate strong cash flow well into the future."
Overall, Brucejack hosts 23.2 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 10.1 g/t (7.6 million oz) gold and 65.5 g/t (49.1 million oz) silver; as well as 9.4 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 10.3 g/t (3.1 million oz) gold and 44.3 g/t (13.4 million oz) silver.
These resources are found in both the Valley of the Kings and West Zone deposits and include the reserves reported above.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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