JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Stornoway Diamond Corporation has reduced the estimated capital cost of its Renard diamond project in Québec by C$50-million to C$752-million.
This followed the completion of a new mine design and cost optimisation exercise for the project.
The optimisation study incorporated design refinements undertaken since the release of the project's feasibility study in November 2011.
The design changes have led to restated project operating and capital cost estimates and a revised production schedule.
The revised operating costs average C$57.63/t, an increase of C$2.92/t from the previous estimate.
The project had an estimated 11-year reserve-based mine life with diamond production averaging 1.6-million carats a year over the life of the mine.
“The optimisation study reported today confirms a robust project with strong cash flows. Since the release of the project's feasibility study, we have been able to bring down our initial capital cost estimate with only a modest impact on the project's operating costs.
“We are particularly pleased that the project has so successfully absorbed the kind of post-feasibility design adjustments and operating agreements that can negatively impact on a project's value,” Stornoway president and CEO Matt Manson said in a statement.
The company was now able to start finalising project financing arrangements and start construction in the third quarter of this year.