Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX: WM | OTCQX: WLBMF) has released a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its 100%-owned Fenelon gold project located in the Abitibi greenstone belt, along the Detour-Fenelon gold trend in Quebec, Canada.
Wallbridge chairman, Tony Makuch commented, “Projects such as Fenelon, with a projected annual production profile of more than 200,000oz gold, located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction with established infrastructure, having substantial exploration upside, and access to clean hydro-electric energy are highly desirable yet exceedingly rare in the mining industry today.”
The underground mine, 7,000tpd mill, tailings facility, and paste backfill plant have a pre-production capital requirement of C$645M and a sustaining capital requirement of C$594M. Payback will be achieved in 4.2 years. The all-in sustaining costs are expected to be US$924/oz Au.
The project is given an after-tax net present value of C$721M and an internal rate of return of 18% at a gold price of US$1,750/oz. Average annual gold production will be 212,000oz over 12.3 years of mine operation. The annual free cash flow is estimates to average C$157M over the life of the mine.
Fenelon has an indicated resource of 21.7Mt grading 3.40g/t Au and containing 2.4Moz. The inferred resource is 18.5Mt at 2.89g/t Au and containing 1.7Moz.
The positive results of the PEA study warrants advancing the project to the next study stages, where every aspect of the project will be upgraded and de-risked as the prefeasibility study is created.
Makuch added, “We are extremely pleased that the PEA on Fenelon alone is demonstrating robust economics at this early stage. We expect further improvements as we continue to add to the resource base through our exploration efforts at Fenelon and elsewhere on our very large land position in the northern Abitibi greenstone belt.”
For further information, please visit: www.wallbridgemining.com