Explaurum Ltd has announced an initial ore reserve of 7.2 Mt grading 2.09 g/t Au (485,000 oz contained) and completion of the feasibility study for the development of the Tampia gold project in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, 240 km east of Perth near the township of Narembeen. Highlights:
- Tampia is confirmed as technically sound and financially robust with an initial project life of six years with operating costs in the lowest quartile of gold projects globally
- Mining plan based on staged development of a single open pit and conventional SAG milling, gravity, flotation with ultra-fine grind (UFG) and enhanced leaching of concentrate, and CIL circuit based on 1.5 Mt/y throughput
- Updated Mineral Resource of 675,000oz gold from 11.7 Mt grading 1.79 g/t Au
- Initial Ore Reserve of 485,000 oz gold from 7.2 Mt grading 2.09 g/t Au
- Initial mine plan of 534,000 oz gold from 8.0 Mt grading 2.07 g/t Au with excellent potential for resource growth
- Estimated all-in sustaining cost (AISC) is A$896/oz for the first two years of operations and A$998/oz over LOM, with 104,000 oz produced for each of the first two years of operations
- Pre-production capital cost estimate is A$119 million (including a A$10.8 million contingency) and payback in 18 months from commissioning
- NPV at 8% discount rate is A$125 million (pre-tax) and IRR is 47% (pre-tax) at A$1,650/oz gold
- Timeline for Project development is completion of BFS in October 2018, with subsequent construction subject to development finance, regulatory and Board approvals (expected December 2018)
- Major exploration program over new gold targets to continue through 2018 and 2019; any growth in resource inventory expected to augment current planned mine life.
The project covers an aggregate area of 327 km2, comprising two granted mining leases and nine exploration licences. EXU has a 90% interest in the two mining leases and one exploration licence, and 100% interest in the remaining exploration licences.
