Study Says High-Grade Gold Project Has Solid Economics
Aquila Resources Inc. (TSX: AQA) has received positive results for the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its wholly-owned Back Forty Project located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA.
President & CEO, Barry Hildred, said the PEA demonstrates Back Forty’s value as a high grade, gold-rich project with compelling economics in a Tier 1 jurisdiction.
“The PEA builds on the company’s 2018 open pit Feasibility Study and includes the currently known underground Mineral Resources,” Mr Hildred said.
“The completion of the PEA is a significant milestone for Aquila that showcases Back Forty’s potential as a near-term producer in the United States at a time when advanced and substantially de-risked projects are scarce.
“Back Forty is a well-defined project that also holds tremendous exploration potential. We are excited to commence work on an updated Feasibility Study that we anticipate will be completed next year as we advance the Project through the final stages of pre-construction activities.
“While doing so, we plan on conducting a drill program at Back Forty to continue to expand the Mineral Resource at-depth where the deposit remains open with numerous targets.”
The PEA outlined a number of initiatives that may enhance the Project including:
- Increased gold recovery: There is value in further investigating leaching sulphide flotation tailings to economically recover additional gold. Previous scoping metallurgical test work and cost analysis investigated various options, at a high level, to extract gold from flotation tailings and was favourable at gold prices above US$1,600/oz.
- Contract mining: The current mine operations plan is based on an owner-operated mine fleet. Contract mining may be an option to offset initial mine capital costs and mitigate any risks associated with training, operational readiness and the availability of experienced mine personnel.
- Contract process plant operations and maintenance: The current process plant operations plan is based on owner operating and maintaining the process plant. An operations and maintenance contract may be an option to mitigate any risks associated with training, operational readiness and the availability of experienced process plant operators and maintenance personnel.
- Resource confirmation and expansion:Complete additional infill drilling with the objective of step-out drilling to potentially expand Mineral Resources.
The Back Forty Project is a polymetallic Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) deposit located in Menominee County, Michigan, USA. The Back Forty Deposit was originally discovered in 2002 and is currently wholly owned by Aquila. The Project is located approximately 55 km south-southeast from Iron Mountain, and approximately 19 km west of Stephenson, Michigan.
