Corvus: North Bullfrog PEA shows Base Case 2.6 year Payback
Vancouver, B.C……..Corvus Gold Inc. (“Corvus” or the “Company”) – (TSX: KOR, OTCQX: CORVF) announces the results of an independently prepared Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for its North Bullfrog Project in Nevada. This PEA is based on the Company’s November 7, 2011 resource estimate and does not include data from the recent successes from the 2012 exploration program (NR12-06, February 13, 2012). The PEA produced a robust positive economic analysis for a conceptual, low capex, heap leach project that generates an average annual gold production of 57,700 ounces over 12.8 years, at a life of mine strip ratio of 0.41 to 1 (overburden to process feed), indicating a pre-tax, pre-royalty NPV(5%) of $118.3M, and an IRR of 28.8% at $1,300 per ounce gold price (Table 1). The PEA also shows the project has a considerable leverage to gold price, with a pre-tax, pre-royalty NPV(5%) of $338M and an IRR of 70% at $1,700 per ounce gold price (Table 2) (all currency USD).
North Bullfrog Project Highlights
- Low entry cost gold project with total initial capex of $68.8M with contingency and pre-production/indirect costs included resulting in a 2.6 year payback at $1,300 gold
- Strong leverage to gold price with NPV(5%) of $338M at $1,700 gold with a 1.2 year payback
- Large in pit resource of 1.1M ounces contained, and 747,000 ounces recoverable, gold
- Average annual production of 57,700 ounces of gold with an average of 70,000 ounces of gold per year over the first 3 years
- Total cash operating cost of $815/oz gold with an average of $673/oz gold over the first 3 years
- Potential for significant resource expansion with ongoing drill program as highlighted with recent success in a 400 metre step out hole that returned 52 metres of 0.8 g/t gold
- Additional new discovery potential for high-grade gold and silver systems, currently being drilled
- Favourable permitting environment with recent examples of timely approvals
- Excellent infrastructure for mine development, highway and grid power a few kilometres from deposit
- Favourable low strip ratio of 0.41 that is less than 0.3 in the first 3 years
- Very good recovery of gold with low cost heap leach system
- Existing, skilled mining workforce in the nearby communities
- Potential for fast track development project that is within the scope of a junior producer
- Recently expanded land package to 43 km² to cover potential gold system extension and to address potential future mining operation
Jeffrey Pontius, CEO of Corvus, stated: “These initial results are impressive and reinforce the potential for creating a new Nevada gold producer. The low cost project linked with a low initial capex, attractive start-up phase, a favourable permitting environment, excellent infrastructure and available labour force, significantly de-risk this prospective project. With recent successes in our step out and high-grade drilling project we see this initial positive PEA as a critical first step in developing what we believe will be one of Nevada’s next gold mines.”
