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The company holds a portfolio including precious, base and strategic metal exploration in North America, Africa, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
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.
