St. Augustine and NADECOR Announce Positive Results from King-king Preliminary Feasibility Study
Pre-tax NPV(8%) of US$2.0 Billion and pre-tax IRR of 24.8%
(firmenpresse) - SPOKANE, WASHINGTON -- (Marketwired) -- 09/18/13 -- St. Augustine Gold and Copper Limited (TSX: SAU) ("St. Augustine" or the "Company") and its joint venture partner Nationwide Development Corp. ("NADECOR") are pleased to announce the results of the Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") on the King-king Copper-Gold Project located in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, Philippines. The results of the PFS show that the planned operation has favorable economic potential, generating an estimated pre-tax net present value ("NPV") of $2.0 billion and an estimated pre-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 24.8%.
"The results of this advanced Preliminary Feasibility Study confirm that King-king is an attractive project with robust economics that will bring significant value to our shareholders, our partner and the Philippines," stated Andrew J. Russell, St. Augustine's CEO. "The strong results of the PFS pave the way for St. Augustine and our joint venture partner NADECOR to continue the development of King-king, including the remaining technical work and the advancement of project financing."
"We are pleased that the millions of dollars and years of intensive technical work that St. Augustine has invested in the PFS have paid off and confirmed that this flagship mining project has the potential to generate great value and thousands of jobs for the Philippines," added Conrado T. Calalang, NADECOR's President.
The Declaration of Mine Project Feasibility ("DMPF") was submitted to the Philippine Government in May 2012. The final feasibility study will incorporate any required amendments to the DMPF once comments are received from the Government's final review of the document.
Key Project Indicators
The PFS was prepared by M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation of Tucson, Arizona ("M3"). The resource, reserve, and mine plan was developed by Independent Mining Consultants ("IMC") of Tucson, Arizona. AMEC provided metallurgical studies, geotechnical and tailing facility design. The Company will file the full NI 43-101 technical report on SEDAR and the Company's website within 45 days. All dollar figures in this news release are in 2012 USD.
Reserve Base
The table below presents the mineral reserve for the King-king Project based on the mine and plant production schedules developed for the study. The mineral reserve amounts to 617.9 million tonnes at 0.300% total copper and 0.395 g/t gold.
Mining Schedule
The PFS assumes a base case ore production rate of 100,000 tpd considering 40 ktpd to an on-off heap leach and 60 ktpd to mill. IMC prepared a 22 year mine plan followed by 3 years of processing stockpiled ore. Heap leach ore declines in year 6 and is discontinued by year 13. The mine schedule excludes inferred mineral resources, which are considered to be waste in the mine reserve analysis. The mine schedule has six development phases and is optimized for metals production at the plant while maintaining low waste to ore ratio in the early years. The availability of high quantities of copper oxide material in the early years allows for early development for copper heap leach processing, which starts approximately 1 year before the mill starts. A mill ore stockpile near the crusher will be utilized to allow 3 to 4 years of additional mill ore processing in the later years when mine activity is completed. The table below provides a summary of the plant production, and illustrates the higher metal grades and lower waste /ore ratio achieved early in the mine life:
Development Overview
The proposed open pit mine and processing plant will produce copper/gold/silver concentrate, copper cathode, and gold dore bullion. Oxide ore containing significant gold and all sulfide ore will be treated in a concentrator at 60,000 tpd. The concentrator process will consist of crushing, grinding, gravity concentration of free gold, and flotation of sulfide copper. An agitated leach circuit will leach oxide copper from flotation tails. Oxide ore containing little or no gold will be treated in a heap leach at 40,000 tpd. The heap leach process will consist of crushing, agglomeration, and leaching utilizing on-off cells. Pregnant solutions from the agitated leach and heap leach processes will go to a common SX-EW facility for production of cathode copper. Overall gold and copper recoveries from ore through dore production, copper-gold concentrate and copper cathodes are estimated at 73.2% and 77.5%, respectively. Total life of mine metal production for the dual processing case (heap leach and mill) is 3.16 billion pounds (1.43 million tonnes) of copper, 5.43 million ounces (169 tonnes) gold and 11.65 million ounces (362 tonnes) silver. A dry stack tailing facility is proposed for handling tailings from the process plant. Tailings will be filtered to remove moisture prior to stacking. Ore will be transported from the primary crusher located near the mine to the mill and heap leach area by a single aerial conveyor. The aerial design is chosen to overcome the high relief terrain in the area. Construction of a power station is proposed at a new coastal complex where a docking facility will be constructed to serve the facility, along with ancillary operations and accommodation for construction and operating staff.
Production Rates, Capital Costs, Operating Costs, Metal Prices and Financial Valuation
Project production, capital and operating costs, metal prices, financials and sensitivities are shown in the table below. In the table below, Base Case refers to the case represented in the Key Project Indicators described above.
Opportunities
Opportunities to improve project economics are being evaluated to be included for the feasibility study. These include the following:
NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANCE
The following Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") have reviewed and approved the scientific, technical and economic information contained in this news release: Joshua Snider, P.E. of M3 Engineering and Technology, Michael G. Hester, FAusIMM of Independent Mining Consultants, Inc.
A NI 43-101 compliant technical report entitled "King-king Copper-Gold Project Mindanao, Philippines" dated October 12, 2010, and prepared by Michael G. Hester, FAusIMM of Independent Mining Consultants, Inc., Donald F. Earnest, P.G. of Resource Evaluation, Inc. and John G. Aronson of AATA International, Inc. has been previously filed by the Company on .
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties related to fluctuations in gold, copper and other commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainties relating to the completion of a bankable feasibility study; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of the Company's joint venture partner and government agencies in the development of the Company's mineral projects; the need to obtain additional financing to develop the Company's mineral projects; the possibility of delay in development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Information Form dated March 22, 2013, and filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at .
Contacts:
St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd.
Kristi Harvie
Manager Investor and Corporate Affairs
+1-509-343-3193
TMX Equicom
Marina Proskurovsky
Account Manager
+1-416-815-0700 ext. 288
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Datum: 19.09.2013 - 02:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 298104
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