O3 eyes Marban gold production by 2026
O3 Mining Inc. [O111-TSXV] said Tuesday it has completed a NI 43-101 compliant pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its 100%-owned Marban Engineering gold project, which is located in the Val d’Or, Que., region.
Marban is situated on the Malartic property, which is located about 12 kilometres from the Canadian Malarctic Mine and along the same structure as Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd.’s [WDO-TSX] Kiena deposit.
The property consists of three mining claims and three concessions, containing the historic KIerens, Norlartic and Marban gold mines.
After releasing a technical report containing a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Marban mine project, the company previously said it intended to complete a pre-feasibility study to advance the Marban project towards production as part of a staged development strategy while continuing its aggressive drill programs.
Highlights from the PFS includes annual production of 160,000 ounces over a lifespan of 10 years and an all-in-sustaining cost of US$882 an ounce. That’s up from a previous estimate of 115,000 ounces.
The PFS envisages initial capital expenditure of $435 million, including mine pre-production, processing and infrastructure, tailings facility, ancillary buildings and water management.
“We are pleased with the results of our PFS for the Marban Engineering Project which demonstrates the potential to be the next gold producer in the Abitibi region in Val d’Or, Quebec, the next step in our promise to be in production by 2026,’’ said O3 President and CEO Jose Vizquerra.
“With robust economics, Marban has shown itself to be a profitable stand-alone project,’’ he said. “We believe the opportunity to grow Marban remains high, with many mineralized zones not included in the mineral resource estimate, which could add to the life of mine, and further improve Marban’s economics.’’
The Marban project is located between the cities of Malartic and Val d’Or in the Abitibi gold district of Quebec. The project area contains six past-producing mines, which collectively produced 585,000 ounces of gold between 1959 and 1992. The land package owned by O3 Mining, in the heart of these mining camps, covers 125 square kilometres.
The PFS is based on an updated mineral resource estimate that was announced on March 1, 2022. It said measured and indicated open-pit mineral resources stand at 2.3 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.07 g/t. The estimate is based on 717 drill holes covering 228,936 metres, of which 193,126 metres were assayed.
Most of the drilling was dedicated to infill drilling to convert inferred resources from the PEA to indicated resources.
On Tuesday, O3 shares eased 7.5% or 10.5 cents to $1.28. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $2.53 and $1.36.