PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A revised scoping study for the La Demajagua precious metals project, in Cuba, has estimated a development cost of $86-million for the project.

La Demajagua mine is expected to be developed in the near term in a joint venture with the Cuban government’s mining company, GeoMinera SA, with the objective of producing a gold arsenopyrite concentrate for sale to an international trading company, and a silver/antimony concentrate for sale to a Chinese antimony smelter

ASX-listed Antilles Gold on Thursday said that over a nine-year mine life, the project is expected to produce 56 136 oz/y of gold, 606 898 oz/y of silver and 2 758 t/y of antimony, while generating life-of-mine revenues of $880-million.

The revised scoping study estimated that the project would have a net present value of $195.6-million and an internal rate of return of 27.9%.

Antilles Gold’s equity contribution is expected to amount to A$20-million, with the company’s share of average annual profits reaching A$28-million.

Antilles Gold executive chairperson Brian Johnson said on Thursday that the results of the scoping study were encouraging, despite geotechnical investigations requiring much flatter slopes to the hanging wall than were previously anticipated which had resulted in an increase in the waste-to-ore ratio, and operating costs.

“However, the results continue to demonstrate the strong return that Antilles Gold can expect to receive on its low equity contribution to the project. The joint venture’s objective is to apply part of the surplus cash expected to be generated by the La Demagaua openpit mine to fund following projects, and to explore major copper prospects to which it has access, including the large El Pilar copper/-gold porphyry system in central Cuba where drilling will commence following the interpretation of recently completed ground magnetics and IP surveys.

“The company’s current market capitalisation of A$20-million is significantly less than its share of the La Demajagua net present value, and does not reflect the potential of other properties that have been made available to or joint ventures with GeoMinera including El Pilar, which collectively present Antilles Gold with an excellent opportunity for future growth,” said Johnson.