Mining News: Northern Neighbors: New PEA reveals small but robust Tiger Mine

Atac Resources Ltd. May 31 provided results of an updated preliminary economic assessment for the Tiger deposit at the western end of its Rackla Gold project, Yukon. The 2016 PEA has incorporated results of geotechnical and infill drilling conducted in 2015 and metallurgical studies completed in early 2016. Key changes to the 2014 PEA include both oxide and sulfide resources and the adoption of a simplified year-round agitated tank carbon-in-pulp leaching process. The 2014 PEA only investigated the extraction of oxide resources by means of a seasonal hybrid heap-leach and agitated tank carbon-in-leach process. Using a base case gold price of US$1,250 per ounce, and an exchange rate of C$1.00 equal to US78 cents, the PEA estimates a mine at Tiger would produce roughly 302,300 oz. of gold over a six-year mine life from ore averaging 3.81 grams of gold per metric ton. The pre-production capital costs for this operation is estimated to be C$109.4 million and life-of-mine sustaining capital costs are expected to be C$8.3 million. This operation produces an estimated after-tax net present value (5 percent discount) of C$75.7 million and an internal rate of return of 28.2 percent after tax, with an all-in sustaining cost of US$864/oz. of gold. “The future development of the Tiger deposit would bring critical infrastructure, including tote road access, to the Rackla Gold project. Exploration will begin shortly at the newly discovered 10 (square-kilometer) Airstrip gold anomaly and elsewhere within the Rau Trend with the objective of identifying additional nearby resources. Atac will continue to explore opportunities to advance or monetize the Tiger deposit through sole development or joint venture,” said Atac President and CEO Graham Downs. “Atac remains committed to further advancing the entire Rackla Gold project, including the Carlin-type targets within the Nadaleen Trend. Drilling is scheduled to begin soon at the Orion discovery, where one of the last holes of 2015 (ARB-15-026) intersected 3.79 g/t gold over 47.24 meters.”

-Shane Lasley