Mali PEA Contains Sizeable Increase In Modelled Oxide Gold
Altus Strategies Plc (AIM:ALS, TSX-V:ALTS, OTCQX: ALTUF) has announced a significant increase to the Net Present Value (NPV) generated by an update to the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on its 100% owned Diba gold project in western Mali.
The PEA has been updated to incorporate the significant increase in modelled oxide gold recoveries (from 80% to 95%), in line with the results of the metallurgical testwork undertaken on Diba drill core.
Highlights:
- Significant 32% increase in NPV to US$107 million (after-tax) at Diba gold project in Mali
- PEA for an open pit oxide gold mine indicates strong cashflow and rapid payback
- Project economics applying a 10% discount rate and US$1,500/oz gold price:
- Pre-tax NPV of US$152 million with payback of 5.5 months
- After-tax NPV of US$107 million with payback of 6.1 months
- After-tax NPV of US$140.2 million at a 10% discount rate and US$1,800/oz gold price
- Updated PEA applies 95% oxide recovery for heap leach compared to previous 80%
- 25 year mine life with average annual production of 57,000 ounces (“oz”) of gold (“Au”) and low strip ratio of 1:1.37
- Diba hosts a shallow dipping near-surface gold deposit with a Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) comprising:
- 4,834,000 tonnes at 1.39 g/t Au for 217,000 oz in the Indicated category
- 5,479,000 tonnes at 1.06 g/t Au for 187,000 oz in the Inferred category
- Diba is strategically located in a world-famous gold belt that hosts numerous open pit mines
CEO, Steven Poulton, said a 10,000m RC drill programme is now underway on potential resource expansion and new targets.
“The updated PEA generates an impressive US$107 million after-tax NPV10 for just the oxide portion of the Diba gold project using a highly conservative US$1,500 per ounce gold price,” Mr Poulton said.
“The NPV10 increases to US$140 million at a US$1,800 per ounce gold price. This significant 32% increase in the NPV from the previous PEA (dated 22 July 2020) is a product of increasing the modelled oxide gold recoveries from 80% to 95%, in line with the results of the recently announced metallurgical testwork undertaken on Diba core.
“The PEA envisages a simple low-cost and low-strip ratio open-pit gold mine using standard heap-leach processing.
“We have recently announced the commencement of a 10,000m RC drilling programme at Diba, designed to test the potential for additional resource ounces along strike and down dip of the current deposit, as well as five priority targets within 3km of Diba hill.
“Initial results from this programme are expected to be available in the coming weeks and will be used to update the current MRE and PEA studies. We look forward to updating shareholders on progress from this drilling programme in due course.”
