Positive PEA indicates viability of Firesteel’s Laiva mine

12th June 2018 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

TSX-V-listed Firesteel Resources on Tuesday announced the positive results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) at the company’s Laiva gold mine, in Finland.

Laiva is a past producing gold mine that has been on care and maintenance since 2014 and is now 100% owned by Firesteel.

The mine is fully built, fully permitted and financed to production through a gold forward sale.

Production is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

The PEA highlights include a preproduction capital expenditure requirement of $7.1-million; average production of 75 981 oz/y at a cash cost of $863/oz and all-in sustaining cost of $974/oz; measured mineral resources of 355 000 t at 1.1 g/t gold; and indicated mineral resources of 3.4-million tonnes at 1.2 g/t gold.

Further, the PEA outlined inferred mineral resources of nine-million tonnes at 1.5 g/t gold, a mill grade of 1.45 g/t gold with a recovery of 90.4% and life-of-mine production of 456 000 oz of gold over a six-year mine life.

Firesteel CEO Michael Hepworth said that although the company had previously conducted an extensive internal study to secure financing and had already made the decision to advance to production, it needed confirmation from a more formal study for the benefit of the market.

Firesteel’s management has also identified several opportunities outside of the scope of the mine plan studied in the PEA, which could further improve the mine plan and the economics of the project.

Most important of these is three additional 100%-owned exploration properties close to the mine that the company believes offer significant blue-sky exploration potential.

“It is our intention to more fully explore these properties with an extensive drill programme in early 2019. Our goal is to have additional pits close to the mill.”

Firesteel is currently conducting magnetic surveys on all of the company’s properties. All three properties are fully permitted for exploration.