JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold miner Xtract Resources has completed an in-house update on the economic metrics of the Manica project, in Mozambique, as part of the definitive feasibility study (DFS) that is being undertaken by independent consultants.
The company on Monday said the DFS was on schedule to be completed by the end of the second quarter of this year.
The in-house studies had determined a $70-million net present value (NPV) for the project, compared with the $50-million NPV estimated in a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), while the project’s internal rate of return (IRR) was now 50%, compared with the 58% set out in the PEA.
Manica’s life-of-mine (LoM) has improved to 12 years, from the eight years previously anticipated in the PEA, with LoM production expected to be 6.3-million tonnes a year, at a head grade of 2.93 g/t to recover 477 000 oz.
Production would start in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Xtract now expected start-up capital costs to reach $35-million, compared with the $28.4-million set out in the PEA. Cash costs were also higher at $549/oz, compared with the previously estimated $650/oz.
"The economic metrics of the Manica gold project remains robust),” said Xtract CEO Jan Nelson.
He added that the Manica project remained at the low end of the cost scale and that Xtract was focused on completing the DFS and starting mine construction.