VANCOUVERBC , Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – Aris Mining Corporation (“Aris Mining” or the “Company”) (TSX:ARIS) (OTCQX:TPRFF) announces updated mineral resource and reserve estimates and a Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the Marmato expansion project, effective June 30, 2022 (the “2022 PFS”), which includes significant growth and refinement over the PFS completed in March 2020 (the “2020 PFS”).
Neil WoodyerCEO of Aris Mining, commented: “We are very pleased with the results of the 2022 PFS which includes an updated Marmato Lower Mine construction capital estimate of $280 millionthat will be partially funded from $122 million of remaining committed stream financing, for a net construction funding amount of $158 million. Compared to the 2020 PFS, we have increased measured and indicated mineral resources by 47% to 6.0 million ounces of gold, the mineral reserves by 57% to 3.2 million ounces, and, at the base case $1,600 gold price, the project NPV5% is $341 million and the project IRR is 30%. Following construction of the new Lower Mine and based on the current mineral reserve, the Marmato mine is expected to deliver average production of 162,000 ounces per year over a nearly 20-year mine life at AISC of US$1,0031/oz, as shown in Figure 1.
“We are nearing completion of the process to amend the existing environmental permits at Marmato to facilitate the expansion, and we plan to quickly enter the construction phase of the Lower Mine expansion project. On November 3, 2022 the Marmato Plan de Trabajos y Obras or PTO was approved by the Agencia Nacional de Minería as a progressive step toward fully permitting the expansion project.”
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1 |
AISC ($ per oz sold) is a non-IFRS financial measure and does not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS, and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers. Please refer to the Non-IFRS Measures section of the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, which is incorporated by reference into this press release, and is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.comfor full details. |
Highlights of the 2022 PFS for the Marmato Expansion
The Marmato expansion project includes the development of a new underground mine and 4,000 tonne per day (tpd) processing facility to add to the current 1,250 tpd Upper Mine. Total recovered gold ounces are estimated at 3.0 million. The deposit remains open at depth and along strike, and has a high expansion potential from future underground drilling programs. The construction capital is estimated at $280 million as detailed in Table 3, and the project economics presented in Table 1 are inclusive of the stream financing, where for upfront deposits of $53 million received and $122 million to be received during construction, Wheaton Precious Metals International (WPMI) purchases metals at reduced prices.
Table 1: 2022 PFS – Marmato Project Economics1
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Gold price (US$/oz) |
$1,400 |
$1,500 |
$1,6002 |
$1,700 |
$1,800 |
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Project NPV @ 5% (after-tax) |
$150 |
$246 |
$341 |
$438 |
$533 |
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Project IRR (after-tax) |
16.1% |
22.8% |
29.7% |
37.1% |
45.2% |
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1 |
Project economics inclusive of precious metal streaming agreement with WPMI. In exchange for the upfront deposits of $175 million, WPMI purchases 10.5% of gold produced from the Marmato mine until 310,000 ounces of gold have been delivered, after which the volume reduces to 5.25% for the life of mine. WPMI will also purchase 100% of silver produced from the Marmato mine until 2.15 million ounces of silver have been delivered, after which the volume reduces to 50% for the life of mine. |
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2 |
Base case assumption |
Marmato Optimization and Project Management
Following the mineral resource estimate (MRE) effective June 30, 2021 and announced in November 2021 that demonstrated significant growth over the previous MRE prepared for the 2020 PFS2the Marmato mine has been thoroughly reviewed and the results have been incorporated into the 2022 PFS. The Company and its consultants are currently finalizing the 2022 PFS technical report in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Company expects to file the report on SEDAR and the Company’s website in November 2022.
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2 |
See the Qualified Person and Technical Disclosure section for a reference to the 2020 PFS |
Following cost and business risk studies, optimizations and updates were made to the overall development strategy including:
- Selecting a contractor-mining approach for the Lower Mine over the previous owner-operator approach, which enhances scalability and accelerates the development timeline while reducing initial capital requirements;
- Relocating the underground crusher to the surface and eliminating the underground conveyor systems, thereby improving operational flexibility with some increase in operating costs;
- Designing the dry-stack tailings facilities for the increased volumes realized from the extended mine life; and
- The cost estimates for the economic analysis now include annualized capital expenditures for the processing plant and other infrastructure, a distinction between fixed and variable costs, and better consideration for the effects of taxation and the stream financing.
Table 2 provides highlights of the 2022 PFS, and a comparison to the 2020 PFS, which includes an increased mine life of 20 years (previously 14 years) and life of mine gold production of 3.0 million ounces (previously 1.9 million ounces).
Table 2: 2022 PFS Highlights and Comparison to the 2020 PFS
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2022 PFS |
2020 PFS |
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Proven + probable gold mineral reserves M+I gold mineral resources (inclusive of reserves) Inferred gold mineral resources |
31.3 Mt at 3.2 g/t for 3.2 Moz 61.5 Mt at 3.0 g/t for 6.0 Moz 35.6 Mt at 2.4 g/t for 2.8 Moz |
19.7 Mt at 3.2 g/t for 2.0 Moz 39.4 Mt at 3.2 g/t for 4.1 Moz 26.4 Mt at 2.6 g/t for 2.2 Moz |
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Mine life |
20 years |
14 years |
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Processing rates (tpd) |
Upper Mine: 1,250 Lower Mine: 4,000 |
Upper Mine: 1,500 Lower Mine: 4,000 |
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Average LOM gold recovery |
94% |
92 % |
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Total LOM gold production (koz) |
2,986 |
1,865 |
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Average annual production (koz/year) |
162 |
166 |
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AISC (US$/oz) |
$1,003 |
$880 |
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Construction capital (US$ million) (see Table 3) |
$279.6 |
$269.4 |
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Committed stream financing (US$ million)1 |
$122.0 |
$72.0 |
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Net construction capital (US$ million) |
$157.6 |
$197.4 |
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At base case prices of $1,600/oz gold and $19/oz silver |
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Free cash flow2 (US$ million) NPV @ 5% (after-tax, US$ million) IRR (after-tax) |
$648 $341 29.7% |
N/A 3 |
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1: Streaming financing commitment during the project construction period. In 2020, the stream commitment included two installments of $36 million each. In April 2022, the stream was amended to include three installments that total $122 million. |
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2: Free cash flow is after-tax and includes construction capital and stream financing. |
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3: The 2020 PFS was completed prior to completion of the stream financing, therefore, like-for-like comparison is not available |
Table 3 – Marmato Lower Mine Project Capital Cost Summary
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Category |
Amount |
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Process plant |
$92.9 |
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Mine development and infrastructure |
62.4 |
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Non process infrastructure |
42.1 |
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Owner’s costs, G&A, and other indirect |
45.3 |
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Paste plant |
18.4 |
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