VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 30, 2021 / Silver Elephant Mining Corp. ("Silver Elephant" or the "Company") (TSX:ELEF)(OTCQX:SILEF)(Frankfurt:1P2N) is pleased to announce the results of a preliminary economic assessment (the "2021 PEA") for its Gibellini vanadium project ("Gibellini project") that demonstrates an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 25.4%, and after-tax cumulative cash flow of $260.8 million, assuming an average vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) price of $10.00 per pound.
The Gibellini project is designed to be an open pit, heap leach operation in Nevada's Battle Mountain region (25 km south of Eureka) with initial capital cost of $147 million, average annual production is 10.2 million pounds of V2O5 , at an all-in sustaining cost of $6.04 per pound with strip ratio of 0.18 to 1 (waste rock:leach material).
As of August 27, 2021, the European price of vanadium pentoxide (98%) was $9.60 per pound according to www.asianmetal.com.
The 2021 PEA was prepared by Wood Group USA, Inc (Wood) and Mine Technical Services Ltd. (MTS). The technical report that summarizes the 2021 PEA will be filed under the Company's SEDAR profile and available within 45 days.
All dollar values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
2021 PEA Highlights:
The 2021 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, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Highlights of the 2021 PEA (after tax):
Internal rate of return | 25.4% |
Payback period | 2.49 years |
Life of mine | 11.1 years |
Total V2O5 recovered | 114.6 million lbs |
Average V2O5 selling price | $10 per lb |
Cash operating cost | $4.70 per lb V2O5 |
All-in sustaining cost | $6.04 per lb V2O5 |
Initial capital cost including 25% contingency | $147 million |
Average grade | 0.271% V2O5 |
Strip ratio (waste:leach) | 0.18:1 |
Mining operating rate | 9,700 tons per day |
Total material leached | 33.4 million tons |
Average V2O5 recovery through direct heap leaching | 63.4% |
Mineral Resources
The PEA Mineral Resource is based on Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource estimates for the Gibellini deposit and Inferred Mineral Resource estimates for the Louie Hill and Bisoni McKay deposits, totaling131.34 million pounds of contained V2O5 in the Measured and Indicated categories, and 227.81 million pounds of contained V2O5 in the Inferred catetory.
Mineral Resource Statement, Gibellini
Confidence Category | Domain | Cut-off | Tons | Grade | Contained |
Measured | Oxide | 0.101 | 3,960 | 0.251 | 19,870 |
Transition | 0.086 | 3,980 | 0.377 | 29,980 | |
Indicated | Oxide | 0.101 | 7,830 | 0.222 | 34,760 |
Transition | 0.086 | 7,190 | 0.325 | 46,730 | |
Total Measured and Indicated | 22,950 | 0.286 | 131,340 | ||
Inferred | Oxide | 0.101 | 160 | 0.170 | 550 |
Transition | 0.086 | 10 | 0.180 | 30 | |
Reduced | 0.116 | 14,800 | 0.175 | 51,720 | |
Total Inferred | 14,970 | 0.175 | 52,300 |
Notes:
1. The Qualified Person for the estimate is Mr. Todd Wakefield, RM SME of Mine Technical Services Ltd. The Mineral Resources have an effective date of5 June 2021. The resource model was prepared by Mr. E.J.C. Orbock III, RM SME.
2. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
3. Mineral Resources are reported at various cut-off grades for oxide, transition, and reduced material.
4. Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual pit shell that uses the following assumptions: Mineral Resource V2O5 price of $14.64/lb; mining cost: $2.21/st mined; process cost: $13.62/st processed; general and administrative (G&A) cost: $0.99/st processed; metallurgical recovery assumptions of 60% for oxide material, 70% for transition material and 52% for reduced material; tonnage factors of 16.86 ft3/st for oxide material, 16.35 ft3/st for transition material and 14.18 ft3/st for reduced material; royalty: 2.5% net smelter return (NSR); shipping and conversion costs: $0.37/lb. An overall 40° pit slope angle assumption was used.
5. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tons, grade and contained metal content. Tonnage and grade measurements are in US units. Grades are reported in percentages.
Mineral Resource Statement, Louie Hill
Confidence Category | Cut-off | Tons | Grade | Contained |
Inferred | 0.101 | 7,520 | 0.276 | 41,490 |
Notes:
1. The Qualified Person for the estimate is Mr. Todd Wakefield, RM SME, of Mine Technical Services Ltd. The Mineral Resources have an effective date of 5 June 2021. The resource model was prepared by Mr. Mark Hertel, RM SME.
2. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
3. Oxidation state was not modeled.
4. Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual pit shell that uses the following assumptions: Mineral Resource V2O5 price of $14.64/lb; mining cost: $2.21/st mined; process cost: $13.62/st processed; general and administrative (G&A) cost: $0.99/st processed; metallurgical recovery assumptions of 60% for mineralized material; tonnage factors of 16.86 ft3/st for mineralized material; royalty: 2.5% net smelter return (NSR); shipping and conversion costs: $0.37/lb. An overall 40° pit slope angle assumption was used.
5. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tons, grade and contained metal content. Tonnage and grade measurements are in US units. Grades are reported in percentages.
Mineral Resource Statement, Bisoni-McKay
Area | Confidence | Domain | Cut-off | Tons | Grade | Contained |
North Area A | Inferred | Oxide | 0.107 | 6,970 | 0.29 | 39,720 |
Transition | 0.124 | 1,500 | 0.33 | 9,900 | ||
Reduced | 0.139 | 9,080 | 0.39 | 70,580 | ||
Total North Area A | Inferred | All | Variable | 17,540 | 0.34 | 120,210 |
South Area B | Inferred | Oxide | 0.107 | 1,470 | 0.28 | 8,160 |
Transition | 0.124 | 320 | 0.40 | 2,540 | ||
Reduced | 0.139 | 510 | 0.30 | 3,100 | ||
Total South Area B | Inferred | All | Variable | 2,300 | 0.30 | 13,810 |
Total | Inferred | All | Variable | 19,850 | 0.34 | 134,020 |
Notes:
1. The Qualified Person for the estimate is Mr. Todd Wakefield, RM SME, of Mine Technical Services Ltd. The Mineral Resources have an effective date of 5 June 2021.
2. Mineral Resources are reported at various cut-off grades for oxide, transition, and reduced material.
3. Mineral Resources are reported within a conceptual pit shell that uses the following assumptions: Mineral Resource V2O5 price of $11.50/lb; mining cost: $2.90/st mined; process cost: $13.75/st; general and administrative (G&A) cost: $1.00/st processed; metallurgical recovery assumptions of 65% for oxide material, 56% for transition material and 50% for reduced material; tonnage factors of 16.86 ft3/st for oxide material, 16.35 ft3/st for transition material and 14.18 ft3/st for reduced material; royalty: 2.5% net smelter return (NSR); shipping and conversion costs: $0.625/lb. An overall 40° pit slope angle assumption was used.
4. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tons, grade and contained metal content. Tonnage and grade measurements are in US units. Grades are reported in percentages.
Mining & Processing
A subset of the Gibellini and Louie Hill Mineral Resource estimates were adopted in the 2021 PEA mine plan. Bisoni McKay Mineral Resource estimate was not included in the mine plan in the 2021 PEA to better reflect the Company's already submitted plan of operation in its permitting efforts.
Subset of the Gibellini Mineral Resource Estimate within the 2021 PEA Mine Plan
Leach Material | Domain | Cutoff V2O5 (%) | Tons ('000) | V2O5 Grade (%) | Contained V2O5 Lbs ('000) |
Measured | Oxide | 0.135 | 3,890 | 0.253 | 19,684 |
Transition | 0.135 | 3,944 | 0.378 | 29,824 | |
Reduced | 0.135 | - | 0.000 | - | |
Indicated | Oxide | 0.135 | 6,246 | 0.240 | 30,024 |
Transition | 0.135 | 7,056 | 0.316 | 44,624 | |
Reduced | 0.135 | - | 0.000 | - | |
Total Measured and Indicated | 21,136 | 0.294 | 124,156 | ||
Inferred | Oxide | 0.135 | 116 | 0.174 | 403 |
Transition | 0.135 | - | 0.000 | - | |
Reduced | 0.135 | 5,183 | 0.163 | 16,919 | |
Total Inferred | 5,299 | 0.163 | 17,323 |
Subset of the Louie Hill Mineral Resource Estimate within the 2021 PEA Mine Plan
| Leach Material | Domain | Cut-off (%) | Tonnage (kton) | V2O5 (%) | V2O5 (klb) |
| Inferred | Oxide | 0.155 | 6,963 | 0.282 | 39,315 |
| Transition | 0.155 | - | 0.000 | - | |
| Reduced | 0.155 | - | 0.000 | - | |
| Total Inferred | 6,963 | 0.282 | 39,315 |
Capital and operating costs for the 2021 PEA are based on supplying 3 Mt of crushed and agglomerated leach material annually from two open pits at Gibellini and Louie Hill. Initial mine development will be focused on Gibellini, with Louie Hill following nine years later.
Mining at the Gibellini and Louie Hill deposits is planned to be a conventional open pit mine using a truck and loader fleet consisting of 100-ton trucks and front-end loaders. A power line would be constructed from an existing transmission line and water will be leased from a private ranch. Both water and power sources are within five miles of the planned mining operations.
The average annual mine production during the 11.1 year mine life will be 3.56 million tons of leach material (3 Mst) and waste (0.56 Mst) at a strip ratio of 0.18 (w:l).
Period | Total | Rock Waste | Oxide Leach | Transition Leach | Reduced Leach | Leach Total | V2O5 | Contained V2O5 | Produced |
(kt) | (kt) | (kt) | (kt) |
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