All amounts are in USD unless stated otherwise
- Feasibility Study reflects optimized development plan and current cost environment
- After-tax NPV 5% of $622 million and after-tax IRR of 24% at $1,600/oz gold price
- 10.5-year mine life with average annual gold production of 174,700 ounces at AISC of $681/oz
- Years 1-5: Average annual gold production of 196,200 at AISC of $666/oz
- A 12% increase in mineral reserves to 2.0 million gold ounces
- A 7% increase in initial capital to $458 million and 44% decrease in sustaining capital to $83 million, resulting in an overall 4% decrease in LOM capital costs to $564 million
- Launch of project financing process targeting 60% to 70% from non-equity sources, with target start of construction in mid-2022
- Well-funded with $58 million of cash and $27 million of in the money warrants maturing in Q2-22 i
BROSSARD, QC / ACCESSWIRE / February 9, 2022 / G Mining Ventures Corp. (" GMIN " or the " Corporation ") is pleased to announce the results of its 2022 Feasibility Study (the " FS " or the " Study ") for the development of its wholly-owned and permitted Tocantinzinho Gold Project, located in Para State, Brazil (" TZ " or the " Project "). The Study replaces the 2019 Feasibility Study (the "2019 FS" ) completed by Eldorado Gold Corporation (" ELD "), with updated mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, re-sequenced mine plan, refined mill designs, and updated current capital and operating cost estimates.
The FS confirms robust economics for a low cost, large scale, conventional open pit mining and milling operation, with industry leading operating costs and high rate of return. The Study outlines total gold production of 1.8 million gold ounces over 10.5 years, resulting in an average annual gold production profile of 174,700 ounces with an All-In-Sustaining Cost (" AISC ") per ounce of $681. The Project after-tax net present value (" NPV ") (5% discount rate) is $622 million with an after-tax internal rate of return (" IRR ") of 24% at a gold price of $1,600 per ounce, and $833 million and 29% at a spot gold price of $1,800 per ounce.
Louis-Pierre Gignac, President & Chief Executive Officer of GMIN, commented: "The Feasibility Study builds on previous technical work while incorporating several improvements and optimizations, notably to the pit design, production schedule, process plant design and support infrastructures. The capital and operating cost estimates rely on recent budgetary quotes reflecting the current cost environment and our project execution approach. Our procurement strategy is to favor sourcing from in-country manufacturers where possible to maximize local benefits and benefit from simplified logistics. The Project provides an attractive gold production profile of approximately 175,000 ounces per year over a 10.5 year mine life, making it one of the premier gold development projects in Brazil and a key socio-economic contributor to the Tapajos Region of Para State. Factoring recent inflationary pressure seen within the industry from a new project perspective, GMIN has delivered a study that highlights a very attractive rate of return. Our experience and expertise, proven in recent successful mine developments for Newmont and Lundin Gold, will play a key role as capital is deployed to deliver on these economics."
Table 1: Key Economic Outputs of the Study
Description | Units | GMIN | 2019 FS |
| Production Data (Operations Period) | |||
Mine Life | years | 10.5 | 10.0 |
Average Milling Throughput | tpd | 12,587 | 11,890 |
Average Milling Throughput | MMt / year | 4.6 | 4.3 |
Strip Ratio | waste : ore | 3.4 | 3.7 |
| Pre-Strip Tonnage | Mt | 17.1 | 22.7 |
| Total Tonnage (exclusive of pre-strip) | Mt | 194.9 | 164.6 |
| Ore Tonnage Milled | Mt | 48.3 | 40.0 |
Gold Head Grade | g/t | 1.31 | 1.41 |
Contained Gold | koz | 2,036 | 1,817 |
Recovery | % | 90.1% | 89.5% |
Total Gold Production | koz | 1,834 | 1,625 |
Average Annual Gold Production | koz | 175 | 163 |
| First Five Full Years | koz | 196 | 187 |
| Operating Costs (Average LOM) | |||
Mining Cost | USD/t mined | $2.36 | $2.77 |
Mining Cost | USD/t milled | $9.51 | $11.41 |
Processing Cost | USD/t milled | $8.83 | $9.03 |
G&A Cost | USD/t milled | $3.13 | $2.99 |
Total Site Costs | USD/t milled | $21.48 | $23.43 |
Total Site Costs | USD/oz | $565 | $577 |
| Total Operating Costs / Cash Costs | USD/oz | $623 | $633 |
| AISC | USD/oz | $681 | $735 |
| Capital Costs | |||
Initial Capital | USD MM | $427 | $400 |
Life of Mine Sustaining Capital | USD MM | $71 | $129 |
Closure Costs | USD MM | $24 | $27 |
Capital Costs before Tax | USD MM | $522 | $556 |
Net Taxes Payable | USD MM | $42 | $35 |
Total Capital Costs | USD MM | $564 | $590 |
| Financial Evaluation | |||
Gold Price Assumption | USD/oz | $1,600 | $1,500 |
USD:BRL FX Assumption | x | 5.20 | 4.00 |
After-Tax NPV 5% | USD MM | $622 | $409 |
After-Tax IRR | % | 24.2% | 19.7% |
Payback | Years | 3.2 | 3.4 |
Figure 1: Average Annual Gold Production and Operating Costs
Table 2: Sensitivity Analysis
| Scenario | Downside | Base | Spot | Upside | |
| Gold Price | USD/oz | $1,400 | $1,600 | $1,800 | $2,000 |
| After-Tax NPV 5% | USD MM | $410 | $622 | $833 | $1,044 |
| After-Tax IRR | % | 19% | 24% | 29% | 34% |
| LOM Free Cash Flow | USD MM | $744 | $1,043 | $1,343 | $1,642 |
| LOM EBITDA | USD MM | $1,437 | $1,792 | $2,147 | $2,502 |
| Payback | Years | 3.7 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.3 |
FS Overview
The Corporation retained G Mining Services Inc. (" GMS ") and SRK Consulting Canada Inc. (" SRK ") as lead consultants, along with other engineering consultants, to complete the Study and prepare a technical report in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (" NI 43-101 ").
Property Description, Location, and Access
The Project is an advanced-stage development gold project located in Pará State, Brazil, 200 km south-southwest of the city of Itaituba, 108 km from the Moraes de Almeida district, and 1,150 km southwest of Belém, capital of Pará State. The climate in northwestern Brazil is tropical, with a rainy season from January to April and a dry season extending from June to December. The average annual precipitation is approximately 1,957 mm. The land tenure totals 99,574 hectares (996 km 2 ) and is comprised of two mining concessions covering an area of 12,889 hectares (129 km 2 ), 23 exploration licenses covering an area of 76,116 hectares (761 km 2 ), and two applications for exploration licenses covering 10,569 hectares (106 km 2 ).
The Project is accessible by road via a 72-km municipal dirt road connecting to the Transgarimpeira State Road which connects to the Federal BR-163 Cuiaba-Santarem paved highway; the dirt road was built by ELD prior to the sale of the Project. Air access is via an existing 775m long airstrip; a new 1,300m long airstrip capable of landing larger planes is planned that will be used for personnel, priority supplies, medical emergencies and exporting gold. At the Project site, there is an existing exploration camp with a capacity of about 90 beds complete with kitchen, recreation room, clinic, fuel storage, core shacks, and office space.
Figure 2: Project Location Map
Mineral Resource Estimate
Measured and Indicated Resources (" M&I ") total 48.1 million tonnes (" Mt ") at an average gold grade of 1.36 grams per tonne (" g/t ") for 2,102,000 contained ounces of gold (inclusive of Mineral Reserves) as of December 10, 2021. Contained gold in the M&I category represents 97% of the global resource. The Mineral Resource Estimate for the Project is effectively unchanged from the estimate incorporated into the 2019 FS. SRK was commissioned to audit the mineral resource model prepared in the 2019 FS, to audit the surface garimpeiro tailings mineral resource model prepared by GMS (2021), and to assume the Qualified Person responsibility for these mineral resource models.
The mineral resource model only considers work completed by previous operators and consists of 78 core boreholes (22,134 metres) drilled during February 2004 to September 2008, and 74 core boreholes (22,030 metres) drilled during September 2008 to December 2010. In addition, some 155 tailing boreholes (1,594 metres) drilled in 2011 and 2014 were considered for the tailings mineral resource model.
Table 3: Mineral Resource Estimate
| Classification | Tonnes | Grade Gold | Contained Gold |
| Measured | 17,609 | 1.49 | 841 |
| Indicated | 30,505 | 1.29 | 1,261 |
| Total M+I | 48,114 | 1.36 | 2,102 |
| Inferred | 1,580 | 0.99 | 50 |
Note: Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates. Assays were capped where appropriate. Open pit mineral resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t gold. The cut-off grades are based on a gold price of US$1,600 per troy ounce and metallurgical recoveries of 78% for gold in saprolite rock, 90% for gold in granite fresh rock, and 82% for gold in artisanal miner tailings. Effective date of this estimate is December 10, 2021. | |||
Mineral Reserve Estimate
The Project mine plan is based on Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 48.7 Mt at an average gold grade of 1.31 g/t for 2,042,000 contained ounces of gold as of December 10, 2021. The contained gold in the proven category represents 41% of the total ore reserve estimate, and the Mineral Reserves almost represent 100% of the Mineral Resource. The saprolite and garimpeiro tailings represent only 5% of the ore reserve contained gold (or 6% of tonnage) with the granite fresh rock being the main material type at 95% of contained gold (or 94% of tonnage).
The Proven and Probable ore reserves are inclusive of mining dilution and ore loss. The external mining dilution around the ore blocks results in a dilution tonnage of 2.6 Mt @ 0.11 g/t, entailing a mining dilution of 5.5%.
For mine planning purposes, GMS built a sub-blocked model for the tailings and the contact between the models using a SMU block size of 1 m x 1 m x 1 m and the remainder of the orebody using a SMU block size of 10 m x 10 m x 10 m in line with a bulk mining approach and appropriate to the style of mineralization.
Table 4: Mineral Reserve Estimate
| Classification | Tonnes | Grade Gold | Contained Gold |
| Proven | 17,973 | 1.46 | 842 |
| Probable | 30,703 | 1.22 | 1,200 |
| Total P&P | 48,676 | 1.31 | 2,042 |
Notes: CIM definitions were followed for mineral reserves. Mineral reserves are estimated for a gold price of $1,400/oz. Mineral reserve cut-off grade of 0.36 g/t. A dilution skin width of 1 m was considered resulting in an average mining dilution of 5.5%. Bulk density of ore is variable with an average of 2.67 t/m 3 . The average strip ratio is 3.4:1/ Numbers may not add due to rounding. Effective date of this estimate is December 10, 2021. | |||
Production Profile
The Study outlines an average annual gold production profile of 174,700 ounces over the 10.5 years of mine life, with Year 1 as partial year considering 6 months of commercial production. Total gold production is 1,838 koz with an average gold grade milled of 1.31 g/t, and metallurgical recovery of 90%. Included in this total is 4 koz of gold recovered during pre-production with the balance of 1,834 koz during commercial production.
Figure 3: Gold Production Profile
Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year | |
| Ore Milled (kt) | 2,236 |
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