North American Tungsten Corp. Ltd.'s National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report on the Mactung property, Yukon, Canada, prepared for the company by Wardrop, a Tetra Tech company, dated April 3, 2009, has been filed for public access on SEDAR (see news in Stockwatch dated Feb 23, 2009).
Highlights:
- Mactung economics are positive with a 23.5-per-cent iInternal rate of return and a pretax net present value discounted at 8 per cent of $277-million; - The technical report is based on an initial 2,000 tonnes per day underground mine with an 11-year life of mine (LOM); - There is potential to expand the initial LOM with exploitation of the open pit resource; - Mactung is forecast to produce an average of 749,000 metric tonne units (MTUs) of WO3 over the first five years of operation; - The average operating cost for the first five years of operation is estimated to be CDN$104/MTU; - The estimated capital cost is $356.5 million plus a CDN$45.6 million contingency; - Capital payback is expected to be in 2.9 years.
The Mactung Project is forecast to run at 2,000 tonnes per day from an underground operation using conventional long hole plus cut and fill mining methods. An underground primary crusher and conveyor will supply ore to the surface facility where the ore will be processed into both a premium gravity concentrate (67% WO3) and a flotation concentrate (55% WO3). Recovery of WO3 is expected to average 81.7% and the mine will average 749,000 MTU's of WO3 in concentrates during the first five years of operation.
Key parameters that form the basis of the economic evaluation of the Mactung Project are as follows:
Underground Life of Mine Production: 8.1 million tonnes of 1.09% WO3
Annual Throughput: 730,000 tpa
Recovery first 5 years: 81.7%
Average annual production first 5 years: 749,000 MTU's
Operating cash cost first 5 years: CDN$104/MTU
Capex including contingency: CDN$ 402.1 million
APT pricing: US$300/MTU of WO3
Exchange Rate $US/$CDN: 0.88 The pre-tax net present value of the project based on an 11.0 year mine life and the base case parameters as previously indicated are as follows:
Discount Rate Pre-Tax Net Present Value
8% CDN$276.8 million
6% CDN$346.4 million
The pre-tax internal rate of return for the project is 23.5%. Payback of invested capital is anticipated to occur in 2.9 years after commencement of production. Read more...
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