VANCOUVER - Moneta Gold Inc. [ME-TSX, MEAUF-OTCQX, MOP-XETRA] has released the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Tower Gold project in Timmins, Ontario.
The NI 43-101-compliant PEA demonstrates the potential to develop a low-cost 19,200-tonne-per-day combined open pit and underground mining operation with strong economics for significant benefits to the indigenous nations, local stakeholders and the company.
The PEA was released after the close of trading on September 7, 2022, when Moneta shares were priced at $1.88 and currently trade in a 52-week range of $2.97 and $1.43.
The Tower Gold Project is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in North America. Moneta has the largest land position in the eastern Timmins camp, the most prolific gold producing belt in Canada, and one of the top gold-producing areas in the world, with over 85 million ounces of gold produced to date.
The combined Golden Highway and Garrison areas, collectively the Tower Gold project, captures 17 kilometres of the Destor Porcupine Fault. The combined project hosts a NI 43-101-compliant resource spanning only 9.0 kilometres of the corridor and found primarily within the sedimentary host rocks along a southern splay of the Destor.
The PEA envisages a mine life of 24 years with average annual gold production of 261,014 ounces in years one to 11 (192,666 ounces over the life of the mine). Total gold production is estimated at 4.58 million ounces. At peak production, the mine can produce 368,622 ounces annually.
The all-in-sustaining cost is forecast to be US$1,073 per ounce.
The PEA forsees a low capital intensity project, with an initial capital spend of $517 million for a 7.0 million tonne-per-year processing plant, including mine pre-production, infrastructure (roads, power line and substation, tailings storage facility, ancillary buildings, and site water management structures) and $886 million sustaining capital.
"We're very pleased with the results of this PEA, which has outlined a strong base case for a significant and highly profitable new gold mine in Ontario,'' said Moneta President and CEO Gary O'Connor. "In 2022, we will continue to focus on infill and definition drilling to better define the resources and improve the economics of the resource through increasing grades and lowering strip ratios, while identifying new targets,'' he said.
According to an updated estimate, the consolidated mineral resource at the site now stands at 4.46 million ounces of indicated gold and 8.29 million ounces of inferred gold.
The Tower gold project will consist of the extraction of two separate areas: Golden Highway and Garrison. Golden Highway consists of the mineral deposits, Westaway, Southwest, 55 and Windjammer, while Garrison encompasses Garrcon, 903 and Jonpol. The overall strategy is to mine the deposits in two phases using a combination of open pit and underground mining to achieve a total production rate of 7.0 million tonnes.
The mineral resources used in the mine plan are contained in seven deposits over a length of 12 kilometres and span from surface to a vertical depth of approximately 1,000 metres.