Cerrado Gold (TSXV: CERT) says it plans to bring four sites at its Minera Don Nicolás (MDN) mine in southeast Argentina into production without capital spending because it’s already built a plant and stripped the site at the two main targets.
The new preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the project, released Tuesday, states that the lack of initial capital costs for MDN is due to the company having already built a heap leach pad and extraction circuit last year, and completed pre-stripping at Calandrias Norte earlier this year.
The PEA’s release included an updated resource for the site which grows the measured and indicated categories more than 10-fold over the initial resource from 2021.
The study gives MDN a net present value of $111 million (at a 5% discount rate) over a five-year life during which it’s expected to produce 55,869 oz. in average annual gold-equivalent output. Its total gold-equivalent production is estimated at 279,345 oz., at a gold price of $2,100 per ounce. Average annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are pegged at $49.2 million.
“These (PEA) results support our view that MDN is set to enter a period of stable operations, generating robust cash flows enabling the reduction of debt and enhancing the overall financial strength of Cerrado,” CEO Mark Brennan said. “For the next few years, MDN will be focused on growing resources to extend the mine life and leverage the value of our existing operations.”
The company also stands to benefit from the proceeds of the recent sale of its Monte Do Carmo project in Brazil for $45 million, Brennan added.
The filing of Cerrado’s PEA comes as gold prices continue to touch historic highs, with the yellow metal reaching $2,383.68 per oz. on Tuesday, after reaching a new peak of $2,483.35 per oz. on July 17.
The PEA is focused on the development and mining of the high-grade Calandrias Norte open pit that is expected to run until later this year, and the Calandrias Sur heap leach operation that will operate until at least 2028. Both Calandrias sites began production in April.
The PEA also focuses on the development of a small-scale underground operation by 2026, where future exploration is expected to extend the mine life, and the processing of low-grade mined ore in the Martinetas area from various stockpiles. Cerrado has been mining at the La Paloma and Martinetas sites since 2019.
Sustaining capital expenditures come to $9.5 million, reclamation costs $7 million and salvage value $3.3 million.
The resource update comprises the two Calandrias targets, the Zorro and depleted satellite open pits and the Paloma underground trend.
Total measured and indicated resources come to 13.4 million tonnes grading 1.13 grams gold per tonne and 15.26 grams silver for 490,340 oz. of contained gold and 6.5 million oz. of contained silver. There’s also 3.5 million inferred tonnes grading 1.05 grams gold and 3.20 grams silver for 121,150 oz. of contained gold and 369,770 oz. contained silver.
Shares in Cerrado were flat on Tuesday and traded at C$0.14 apiece, valuing the company at C$20.6 million. Its shares traded in a 52-week range of C$0.11 and C$0.60.
