Moneta Porcupine tables Golden Highway PEA
Moneta Porcupine Mines Inc. [ME-TSX; MPUCF-OTC; MOP-XETRA] shares were active Wednesday September 9 after the company announced the results of a preliminary economic assessment for the South West deposit at its 100%-owned Golden Highway Project east of Timmins, Ontario.
Golden Highway is one of six core gold projects located along the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone, a geological structure that has produced over 85 million ounces of gold.
The PEA only assessed the economics of producing gold from the South West deposit estimated to contain indicated resources of 592,000 ounces grading 4.07 g/t plus inferred resources of 1.24 million ounces grading 4.01 g/t. The PEA did not evaluate the adjacent deposits on the Golden Highway Project.
“We are extremely pleased with the positive results from this preliminary economic assessment of the South West deposit and its robust project economics, including an NPV of $236 million and IRR5% of 30% at US$1,500/oz gold,” said Moneta CEO Gary O’Connor.
The PEA says the South West deposit has the potential to produce up to 85,700 ounces of gold annually or a total of 719,000 ounces over the life of the mine at a cash cost of US$590 an ounce.
The PEA also envisages a low initial capital cost of $144 million that is attributable to the project’s location in one of Canada’s most prolific gold mining belts. The project is 100 kilometres east of Timmins adjacent to a major highway. No camp is required due to the proximity of major population centres.
The South West deposit is expected to generate $371 million in after-tax cash flow over the mine life.
Moneta shares were unchanged at 15 cents on active volume of just over one million. Shares are trading in a 52-week range of 22 cents and $0.06.
“In addition to the highly successful PEA on our South West deposit, we have five additional gold deposits on the Golden Highway Project and have discovered three new mineralized areas, Westaway, Halfway and South Basin in 2020, of which a maiden resource for Westaway is planned for this year,” O’Connor said.
Meanwhile, the South West resource requires additional infill drilling to upgrade inferred resources to the measured and indicted categories. The company also needs to drill out adjacent gold deposits to enable additional resources to be considered in any further development plan.