Indigenous group says no one consulted them on Seabridge’s KSM project
The Tsetsaut Skii km Lax Ha Nation wants the province to declare that it failed to fulfill its duty to consult with them.
Shares in Idaho-focused junior explorer Freeman Gold (TSXV: FMAN) rose as high as 11.5% Monday following the release of an initial preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on its Lemhi project.
The PEA outlines an open-pit operation with estimated annual production of 75,900 oz. of gold over a 11.2-year mine life. Gold output over the first eight years is expected to average over 80,000 oz.
Using a base case gold price of $1,750 per oz., the project’s after-tax net present value (at 5% discount) is calculated at $212.4 million with an internal rate of return of 22.8%. At a spot gold price of $1,932.50 per oz., the NPV increases to $295.6 million, with the IRR rising to 28.6%.
The Lemhi mine would have an initial capital expenditure of $190 million, with life-of-mine cash costs estimated at $809 per oz., while all-in sustaining cash costs (AISC) are pegged at $957 per ounce.
“Lemhi represents a unique opportunity for the investment community to participate in a deeply discounted gold project that remains open on strike and trades at 6% of after tax NPV at $1,750 gold and less than 5% at spot price,” said executive chairman Paul Matysek.
“This will certainly be attractive to gold mining developers and producers who see value in having an operation almost entirely on patented ground, a sub $1,000/oz. AISC, a life of mine production over 850,000 oz., that is highly leveraged to gold price in a leading mining jurisdiction.”
The production strategy outlined in the PEA, says Freeman, consists of a phased development with an increase in throughput during the fifth year of operation, with a flowsheet utilizing a carbon-in-leach processing facility.
The Lemhi property comprises 30 sq. km of highly prospective land in south-central Idaho, hosting a near-surface oxide gold resource of 30 million tonnes grading 1 gram gold per tonne in the measured and indicated categories, plus 7.6 million inferred tonnes at 1 gram gold.
According to Freeman Gold, its Lemhi deposit is already one of the highest-grade oxide, near-surface gold resources in the US. The company is currently focused on growing and advancing the project, which it has been drilling since 2020, towards a production decision.
Freeman shares traded at C$0.14 on Monday afternoon in Toronto, giving the company a market capitalization of C$18.4 million.
