Name of the Project
Hayes Creek zinc/gold/silver project.

Location
Northern Territory, Australia.

Client
PNX Metals.

Project Description
The scoping study has demonstrated the project as financially robust, producing zinc concentrate and gold/silver doré from openpit and underground operations.

The project comprises the Iron Blow and Mt Bonnie deposits, in the Pine Creek region of the Northern Territory.

Construction of a central standalone mineral processing facility is expected to treat the ore from both deposits at an estimated 400 000 t/y feed rate to produce an average of about 16 100 t/y of zinc, 14 000 oz/y of gold and 1.29-million ounces of silver in doré a year.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The base case pretax net present value, at a 10% discount rate, has been estimated at A$109.4-million and the internal rate of return at 58%, with a payback of two years.

Value
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at A$54-million for the processing plant and infrastructure. A further A$10.9-million will be required in Year 2 of underground development.

Duration
The production model envisages openpit mining at Mt Bonnie, starting in 2019 for an initial 1.8 years of production, followed by 5.2 years of underground mining at Iron Blow for a total mine life of seven years.

Latest Developments
PNX Metals has received strong support from new investors and existing major shareholders in its latest share placement, raising $1.5-million to fund the completion of its prefeasibility study (PFS) for its flagship Hayes Creek project.

The company has said that it will raise a further $250 000 from a placement at the same price to existing substantial investors, subject to shareholder approval later in the year.

“PNX is now fully funded to complete the PFS on our Hayes Creek gold/silver/zinc project,” MD James Fox has said.

PNX will also use the proceeds of the placement to fund a regional exploration programme, targeting high-grade gold and base metal targets in the Pine Creek region of the Northern Territory.

“At least four highly prospective exploration targets will be tested in the Pine Creek region. A comprehensive resource and extensional drilling programme at the Hayes Creek, Mt Bonnie and Iron Blow deposits will be completed by the end of 2016 to allow for metallurgical and mining plan optimisation in the PFS.”

The regional exploration programme will result in PNX earning an initial 51% interest from Newmarket Gold in the exploration tenure surrounding the Hayes Creek project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
PNX Metals, tel +61 8 8364 3188 or email info@pnxmetals.com.au.