Preliminary Economic Assessment Summary
The PEA was initiated in early 2021 and was produced by a team of independent consultants that possess extensive expertise in their respective fields. Further details on the contributors can be found in the Qualified Persons section of this news release.
All amounts are in
The PEA's highlights include the following estimates:
- Life of mine ("LOM") average annual payable production of 187 koz gold and 758 koz silver
- 12-year mine life with a 25 ktpd processing operation
- After-tax Net Present Value ("NPV") (5%) and Internal Rate of Return ("IRR") of
$387 million and 16.0% - After-tax NPV (5%) and IRR of
$562 million and 20.3% using$1,760 per ounce gold (see Table 1) - Average cash operating costs of
$748 /oz and all-in sustaining costs of$839 /oz, net of by-product credits - LOM processed grades of 0.72 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold and 5.9 g/t silver
- LOM revenue mix of 95% gold and 5% silver
- Initial capital costs including working capital of
$607 million , not including refundable value added tax
The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.
Table 1: Summary of Economic Results by Gold and
Percentage of Base Case Prices | 90% | 100% | 110% |
Gold Price (per oz) | |||
Pre-Tax NPV (5%) ($M) | |||
Pre-Tax IRR | 14.9% | 21.0% | 26.6% |
Post-Tax NPV (5%) ($M) | |||
Post-Tax IRR | 11.4% | 16.0% | 20.3% |
Table 2: Capital Expenditure Estimate Summary
Process Plant & Infrastructure | |
Equipment (Mining and Ancillary Facilities) | |
Subaqueous Tailings Storage Facility | |
Other Direct and Indirect Costs | |
Sub Total | |
Contingency (13.4% Allowance) (1) | |
Freight, Duties and Taxes | |
Refundable Value Added Tax | |
Sustaining Capital and Closure Costs ($M) | |
Life of | |
Average Annual Life of | |
Net Closure Costs (Closure, Severance and Salvage) |
Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding. | |
(1) | The contingency allowance was developed on an area-by-area cost centre assessment of estimate confidence. The assessment considered |
Table 3: Summary of Operating Cost Estimates and Cash Costs
Average Operating Costs | Years 1-5 | Years 6-12 | LOM |
Mining Costs per Tonne Mined – Underground | |||
Mining Costs per Tonne Mined – | |||
Per Tonne Milled | |||
Mining Costs | |||
Processing and Tailings Management Costs | |||
General, Administrative, Environmental and Site Costs | |||
Total Operating Costs | |||
Average Net Cash Costs per Ounce (1) | Years 1-5 | Years 6-12 | LOM |
Operating Costs | |||
Refining and Transport | |||
By-Product Credits | ( | ( | ( |
Government 3% NSR Royalty | |||
C1 Cash Cost Net of By-products | |||
Sustaining Capital and Net Closure Costs | |||
All-in Sustaining |
Note: Totals may not add up due to rounding. By-products calculated using |
All-in Sustaining Cash Cost: Adds sustaining capital and closure costs to the Net Cash Cost. |
Table 4: Summary of the Mineral Resource Estimates for All Deposits Located at the
Deposit | Tonnes | Average Grade | Contained Metal | ||||
AuEq | Au | Ag | AuEq | Au | Ag | ||
Indicated | |||||||
Santa Barbara | 39.8 | 0.83 | 0.67 | 0.8 | 1,057 | 859 | 1.0 |
Los Cuyes | 50.8 | 0.71 | 0.65 | 5.2 | 1,161 | 1,059 | 8.5 |
Soledad | 19.4 | 0.68 | 0.63 | 4.8 | 426 | 390 | 3.0 |
Enma | 0.66 | 0.78 | 0.64 | 11.6 | 17 | 14 | 0.25 |
Total | 110.7 | 0.75 | 0.65 | 3.6 | 2,660 | 2,321 | 12.8 |
Inferred | |||||||
Santa Barbara | 166.7 | 0.66 | 0.52 | 0.9 | 3,534 | 2,768 | 4.9 |
Los Cuyes | 36.4 | 0.65 | 0.59 | 5.3 | 761 | 687 | 6.2 |
Soledad | 15.1 | 0.50 | 0.46 | 3.4 | 245 | 225 | 1.7 |
Enma | 0.07 | 0.93 | 0.81 | 9.7 | 2 | 2 | 0.02 |
Camp | 6.0 | 3.45 | 3.28 | 27.8 | 663 | 631 | 5.3 |
Total | 224.3 | 0.72 | 0.60 | 2.5 | 5,205 | 4,313 | 18.1 |
Mineral Resource Estimate Notes: |
(1) The mineral resource estimate has an effective date of |
Mining and Processing Facility
Condor North consists of three adjacent open pit mine areas and one underground mine. The open pit mine areas are named "Los Cuyes", "Soledad", and "Enma"; and the underground mine is "Camp."
The open pits will be mined with conventional hard rock mining methods. The terrain is steep at the three open pit deposits and has jungle vegetation with thin layers of saprolite rock. The initial development of each working area will be mined using a set of small drills, loaders, and trucks. Once a large working area is opened up, a primary production fleet consisting of larger drills, shovels/loaders and trucks will be deployed at the open pits. The Los Cuyes deposit consists of three phases, Soledad consists of two phases, and Enma is one phase. Los Cuyes will have the tallest highwall at approximately 700 metres.
The Camp deposit consists of a series of steeply dipping, sub-parallel mineralized structures that will be mined using mechanized underground methods. The mining methods used will be longitudinal and transverse blasthole stoping with waste rock backfill, cemented where required. Access to the deposit will be through portals at the 1,200-metre elevation, then through a series of ramps to gain access to working levels on 20-metre vertical intervals ranging from elevations of 600 to 1,300 metres.
The mining rate from Camp will ramp up to 2,500 tpd (0.9 Mtpy) by the second year of the mine life and the deposit will operate until year eight. The lower grade open pit mill feed from Los Cuyes, Soledad and Enma will be blended with the higher-grade underground Camp mill feed, resulting in a combined mill feed of 25,000 tpd (9.1 Mtpy). Surface mining will move about 29,500 tpd (10.8 Mtpy) in preproduction and eventually ramp to a nominal mine production movement rate of 82,200 tpd (30 Mtpy). The combined open pit strip ratio is 1.94:1.00. All material that is not directly trucked to the mill will be placed in a low-grade storage, saprolite storage, or one of two waste rock storage facilities.
The proposed processing facility for Condor North is a conventional gravity concentration and carbon-in-leach ("CIL") circuit. It has been designed to treat 25,000 tpd (8.92 Mtpa average) of mineralized material over the 12-year mining life.
The process flowsheet begins with a primary crusher located near the open pits and an overland conveyor to the plant. The plant consists of a semi-autonomous grinding ("SAG") mill, pebble crusher and ball mill for grinding, gravity concentrators and an intensive cyanide leaching circuit, a CIL circuit for gravity tailings, a carbon treatment system, electrowinning cells and a detoxification circuit for CIL tailing. Detoxified tailings will be pumped to a wet tailings storage facility with process water recycled to the plant. The plant will produce gold and silver doré which will be shipped off-site for final refining.
Table 5: Mined and Processed Material Summary
Processed Material |
Tonnes (kt) | Grade | Contained Metal | Contained Metal % Total | |||
Au | Ag | Au | Ag | Au | Ag | ||
(g/t) | (g/t) | (koz) | (koz) | % | % | ||
Camp (Underground) | 6,293 | 2.52 | 20.78 | 510 | 4,204 | 20.5% | 20.6% |
Los Cuyes ( | 72,104 | 0.62 | 5.24 | 1,431 | 12,149 | 57.5% | 59.4% |
Soledad ( | 27,467 | 0.60 | 4.26 | 529 | 3,765 | 21.3% | 18.4% |
Enma ( | 1,135 | 0.56 | 9.06 | 20 | 331 | 0.8% | 1.6% |
Total Processed | 106,999 | 0.724 | 5.94 | 2,490 | 20,449 | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Waste Material (Open Pits) | 194,998 | ||||||
Total Mined | 301,997 | ||||||
Strip Ratio (Open Pits) | 1.94 |
Table 6: Processing and Production Schedule
Production | Years 1-5 | Years 6-12 | LOM |
Avg. Processed Tonnes (kt) | 8,760 | 9,028 | 8,917 |
Avg. Gold Grade (g/t) | 0.87 | 0.63 | 0.72 |
Avg. | 6.1 | 5.8 | 5.9 |
Avg. Payable Gold Per Year | 221 | 162 | 187 |
Avg. Payable Silver Per Year | 755 | 760 | 758 |
Metallurgical Recoveries and Test Work Summary
Recent test work (2020-2021) was completed by
Comminution tests indicate the materials are medium soft for SAG milling, medium hard for ball milling and have low abrasive characteristics. The average Bond Ball Work Index for all the composites was 12.5 kWh per metric tonne.
Overall gold and silver recoveries are projected to be 90% and 45% respectively. Below is a summary of the gold and silver recoveries for each deposit based on the metallurgical test results.
Table 7: Selected Metallurgical Recoveries Summary
Total Recoveries | |||
Processed Material Source | % of Processed Material | Gold | Silver |
Los Cuyes | 67% | 89% | 48% |
Soledad | 26% | 90% | 30% |
Camp | 6% | 94% | 48% |
Enma | 1% | 71% | 49% |
Total Recovery | 90% | 45% |
Tailings and Waste Rock Storage Facilities
A siting and tailings deposition methodology study was completed for the PEA with the goal of balancing capital costs, operating costs, closure and post-closure costs and non-monetary considerations such as environmental and social impacts.
The TSF has been designed to accommodate over
Two Waste Rock Storage Facilities ("WRSFs") and a Saprolite Storage Facility for Condor North that are proposed to be located in closed drainage basins. The west WRSF near the
Limited geochemistry work indicates that the tailings and some of the waste rocks are PAG based on results from a small acid-based accounting testing program. Additional testing is required in the next phase to define the volumes of PAG and non-acid-generating waste materials to further develop the waste management strategy, if necessary.
Power Infrastructure and Water Requirements
Connected power requirements for the 25 ktpd processing operation require 64 MW. Actual power draw, or demand, is approximately 70% of the connected load. Ecuadorian power supply consultant, EPTEC, has confirmed that there is sufficient capacity in the Ecuadorian National Interconnected System to meet the requirements of the Project. EPTEC recommended connection to the Cumbaratza electrical substation, owned by CELEC, located in the town of the same name, Zamora Chinchipe province. Transmission to Condor North's main substation will consist of a new single circuit 138kV transmission line over a distance of approximately 46 km. Construction period power supply is anticipated to be from a new 22 kV transmission line 37 km away. The study assumed power costs of
Hydrogeology and water balance studies have determined there will be adequate water for the Project from on-site or nearby water sources, even in drought conditions. Water consumption is unlikely to impact local water users because the selection of sub-aqueous tailings deposition permits the storage of additional water over the tailings from peak surface runoff events while maintaining a base flow downstream. The Enma and Soledad pits are self-draining through the life of mine and Los Cuyes is self-draining through most of the life of mine and only requires pumping in the later years. The TSF will be able to store water for process needs along with providing water cover over the tailings. In addition, water collection storage ponds are included adjacent to the process plant and below the toe of the TSF to reclaim and store water for processing needs.
Employment and Corporate Social Responsibility
During the construction period, approximately 850 full time employees are anticipated to be hired, not including outside contractors. The onsite construction workforce is estimated to vary during the construction period between 100 and 700 depending on the specific work being performed at the time. Over the 12-year mine life it is expected that the Project will have up to 900 employees.
Luminex is committed to maintaining a robust social license to continue its Condor mineral exploration and mine development operations in
Taxes Applied in the Economic Model
The PEA incorporates a 3%
Condor 2021 Drilling and Advancement Plans
At Condor North, Luminex plans to expand the mineable resource by stepping out on the Camp high grade zone at depth, along strike to the northwest (
As part of future drilling work at the various Condor North targets, the Company will collect geotechnical, hydrogeologic, metallurgical, and environmental data to support project development. In addition, the Company will continue evaluating development options at the Santa Barbara gold-copper porphyry deposit. Santa Barbara contains over half of Condor's inferred and indicated gold mineral resource and is located 8km from Condor North. It will be evaluated as either a standalone operation, or as an operation taking advantage of Condor North infrastructure to reduce development costs. 2021 drilling across the Project may also alter how the Company approaches future development scenarios.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release pertaining to the Project has been reviewed, verified and approved by the following Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101:
Quality Assurance for the Luminex Drill Core Samples and Metallurgical Programs
All Luminex sample assay results have been independently monitored through a Quality Assurance / Quality Control protocol which includes the insertion of blind standards, blanks as well as pulp and reject duplicate samples. Logging and sampling are completed at Luminex's core handling facility located at the Condor project. Drill core is diamond sawn on site and half drill-core samples are securely transported to
Silver and other elements are also determined by ICP methods. Over-limit samples assaying greater than 10 g/t gold and 100 g/t silver are re-analyzed by ALS using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Luminex is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. ALS is independent of Luminex.
All the metallurgical samples were assayed by Plenge and SGS Peru. Assay results between the two testing facilities were consistent. A good reconciliation was found between the calculated head grades and the assay head grades.
Luminex is not aware of any factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.
About
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Signed: "Marshall Koval"
Neither the
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to future drilling and advancement plans at the Project; the mined and processed material estimates for Condor North; the internal rate of return of Condor North; the annual production of Condor North; the net present value of Condor North; the life of mine of Condor North; the capital costs, operating costs and other costs and payments estimated for Condor North and the proposed infrastructure for Condor North and the Project (including how, when, where and by whom such infrastructure will be constructed or developed); projected metallurgical recoveries; the proposed level of employment at Condor North; whether the Company will move Condor North to a Pre-Feasibility stage; the timing for filing a technical report for the Project which includes the PEA; that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated or measured mineral resources with continued exploration. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as "will" or "projected" or variations of those words or statements that certain actions, events or results "will", "could", "are proposed to", "are planned to", "are expected to" or "are anticipated to" be taken, occur or be achieved.
With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, and anticipated costs and expenditures. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.
Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Company's continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
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