Sabina Gold & Silver Files NI 43-101 Technical Report for Initial Project Feasibility Study on Back River Gold Project

by ahnationtalk on October 30, 2015325 Views

Vancouver, Canada – Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX:SBB) (“Sabina” or the “Company”) announces that, it has filed its National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report entitled “Technical Report for the Initial Project Feasibility Study on the Back River Gold Property, Nunavut” dated October 28, 2015 on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. The report has also been posted on the Company’s website at www.sabinagoldsilver.com.

“In the last six months, we have presented two scenarios for the development of the Back River Project, with both opportunities delivering compelling economics,” said Bruce McLeod, President & CEO “The Initial Project Feasibility Study (“FS”) presents a viable path forward for Sabina to commence production in the Back River District. We believe Back River is a very unique gold project with some of the highest grade undeveloped open pits in the Americas, (6.0 g/t Au) 80% of which are in the proven reserve category. We believe that this study presents an opportunity that could be only the beginning of production on this highly prospective district. All deposits are open and potential for new discoveries is significant as demonstrated by the announcement of the new Kogoyok zone recently (news release dated October 14, 2015). We look forward to continuing to de-risk the project through permitting and detailed engineering as well as continuing to market the story to the investment community.”

Project Highlights

On September 14, 2015, the Company announced the positive results of an Initial Project Feasibility Study (“FS’) on the Back River gold project in Nunavut, Canada (see News Release on the Company’s website).

The FS uses a gold price of US$1,150/oz Au and an exchange rate of 0.80 (US$:C$). All figures are C$ unless otherwise stated.

The Study’s highlights include a scenario that could:

  • could generate a post-tax IRR of 24.2% and NPV (at 5% discount rate) of $480.3 million;
  • generate LOM post-tax net cash flow of $782 million on gross revenues of $3.2 billion with a payback period of 2.9 years (from the start of operations);
  • Processing at a rate of 3,000 tpd could produce an average of ~250 koz Au per year for the first eight years and ~200koz Au per year life of mine over a ~12 year mine life;
  • Primarily produce from open pits (72% LOM) with no underground production scheduled until Year 3 (after payback);
  • Require initial capital of $415 million and sustaining capital of $185 million;
  • Total LOM cash cost estimate of US$534/oz Au (including third party royalties, refining and transport). LOM all-in sustaining cash cost estimate of US$620/oz Au (LOM including sustaining capital & closure costs);
  • A total of 12.4 million tonnes of ore could be milled over 11.8 years with a LOM average grade of 6.3 grams per tonne (“g/t”) Au and metallurgical recoveries of 93%;
  • Base case assumptions of delivered diesel price of $0.91/L for power generation; and
  • Open pit waste to ore strip ratio of 10.5:1 over LOM.

Reserves and Resources

Mineral Resource Estimate

The Mineral Resource Estimate is based on geologic block models that incorporated:

  • 896 drill holes (for a total of 244,853 m and 124,274 assays) at the Goose Site on the Llama, Umwelt, Echo , and Goose Main deposits; and
  • 770 drill holes (for a total of 139,695 m and 54,273 assays) at the George Site on the LCPN, LCPS, LOC1, LOC2, GH, and Slave deposits.

Mineralized domains were constructed to constrain the estimates using a 0.3 g/t Au threshold for both the Goose and George sites. Capping was employed where required, and varied by deposit. Data density allowed for Indicated and Inferred Resources to be classified at all deposits, with Measured Resources also classified at the Goose Main, Llama, and Umwelt deposits.

Table 9: Summary of Estimated Resources as of October 21, 2014 Including Reserves

Classification Tonnes (kt) Au (g/t) Metal (koz Au)
Measured 10,273 5.27 1,740
Indicated 17,969 6.22 3,593
Measured and Indicated 28,242 5.87 5,333
Inferred 7,750 7.43 1,851

CIM definitions were used for the resources.
Ms. D. Nussipakynova, P.Geo. and Dr. A. Fowler, Ph.D., MAusIMM, CP (Geo), both from AMC and Qualified Persons under NI 43-101, take responsibility for the Mineral Resource Estimates.
Open pit resources are constrained by an optimized pit shell at a gold price of US$1,500 oz. The cut-off grade applied to the open pit resources is 1.0 g/t Au.
The underground cut-off grade is 4.0 g/t Au for all George resources (LCPN, LCPS, LOC1, LOC2, GH, and Slave), 3.5 g/t Au for Goose Main, Echo, and Llama, and 4.5 g/t for the Umwelt deposit.
The George resources were estimated within mineral domains expanded to a minimum width of 2 m for the underground resources.
Drilling results up to December 31, 2013 are included, except for Echo (July 4, 2014) and LOC1 and LOC2 (July 21, 2014).
The numbers might not add due to rounding.
Measured and Indicated Resources are inclusive of Reserves.
Resources that are not reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Mineral Reserve Estimate

The Mineral Reserve Estimate for the Project is based on the Mineral Resource Estimate for the Llama, Umwelt and Goose deposits completed by AMC with an effective date of October 21, 2014.

The reserves were developed by examining each deposit to determine the optimum practical mining method. Cut-off grades (COGs) were then determined based on appropriate mine design criteria and the adopted mining method. Two mining methods were chosen: shovel-and-truck open pit mining and underground mining using post pillar cut-and-fill (PPCF).

Table 10: Summary of Estimated Mineral Reserves as of August 15, 2015

Area Classification Tonnes (kt) Au (g/t) Contained Au (koz)
Total Open Pit Proven 6,983 5.97 1,340
Probable 1,885 5.52 335
Total Underground Proven 20 9.52 6
Probable 3,471 7.37 822
Total Back River Property Proven 7,003 5.98 1,346
Probable 5,356 6.72 1,157
  1. A gold price of US$1,250/oz is assumed.
  2. An exchange rate of CDN$1.15 to US$1.00 is assumed.
  3. The numbers might not add due to rounding.
  4. Notes for open pit:

Dilution and recovery factors are applied as per open pit mining method.
A COG of 2.08 g/t was used for the Umwelt Open Pit Mineral Reserve Estimate.
A COG of 2.14 g/t was used for the Llama Open Pit Mineral Reserve estimate.
A COG of 2.07 g/t was used for the Goose Main Open Pit Mineral Reserve estimate.
Notes for underground:
Dilution and recovery factors are applied as per underground mining method.
A COG of 3.86 g/t was used for the Umwelt underground Mineral Reserve Estimate.

Both the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Estimates take into consideration on-site operating costs (e.g., mining, processing, site services, freight, general and administration), geotechnical analysis for both open pit wall angles and underground stope size, metallurgical recoveries, and selling costs. In addition, the reserves incorporate allowances for mining recovery and dilution, and overall economic viability.

Permitting and Environmental Assessment

New and modified mining projects in Nunavut are subject to environmental assessment (“EA”) and review prior to certification and issuance of permits to authorize construction and operations. The primary environmental review and approval process applicable to the Project is the territorial EA administered by the Nunavut Impact Review Board (“NIRB”). A Project Certificate, if recommended by NIRB, may be issued by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (“AANDC”) at the conclusion of the EA process, which represents government approval and allows the proponent to pursue the necessary regulatory authorizations needed to construct and operate the Project.

The Back River Final Environmental Impact Statement will be filed with NIRB during the week of November 23, 2015. It is anticipated that final technical and public hearings will be held during H1, 2016 with a project recommendation and potential project certificate sometime early in H2 of 2016. Once a project certificate is received, Sabina may embark on acquiring all production licenses and permits for construction and operations.

AUTHORS AND QUALIFIED PERSONS STATEMENT

The 3KFS was prepared under the direction of JDS Energy & Mining Inc. by leading independent industry consultants, all Qualified Persons (QP) under National Instrument 43-101. The QPs have reviewed and approved the content of this news release. The following consultants and QPs participated in the 3KFS:

Qualified Person, Designation Company QP Responsibility/Role
Gord Doerksen, P.Eng. JDS Energy & Mining Inc. Executive Summary, Introduction, Reliance on Other Experts, UG Reserves, UG Mining, Infrastructure, Market Studies, Capex, Opex, Economic Analysis, Environmental, Other Relevant Data, Interpretations, Recommendations, References, Abbreviations
Dino Pilotto, P.Eng. JDS Energy & Mining Inc. OP Reserves, OP Mining Methods, Overall Production Schedule
Andrew Fowler, MAusIMM, CP (Geo) AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. Mineral Resource Estimates for George
Dinara Nussipakynova, P.Geo AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. Mineral Resource Estimates for Goose
John Morton Shannon, P.Geo AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. Property Description, Accessibility, History, Geology, Deposits, Exploration, Drilling, Sample Preparation, Data Verification, Adjacent Properties
Maritz Rykaart, P.Eng. SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. Geochemistry, Tailings Management, Water Management
Stacy Freudigmann, P.Eng Canenco Canada Inc. Metallurgy, Recoveries, Process
Rob Mercer, Ph.D., P.Eng Knight Piésold Ltd. Geomechanical

The Qualified Person under NI 43-101 for Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is Wes Carson, P.Eng Vice-President, Project Development, who has reviewed the content of this news release and approved its dissemination.

SABINA GOLD & SILVER CORP

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. is an emerging precious metals company with district scale, world class undeveloped assets in one of the world’s newest, politically stable mining jurisdictions: Nunavut, Canada.

Sabina has recently released a Feasibility Study on its 100% owned Back River Gold Project which presents a project that has been designed on a fit-for purpose basis, with the potential to produce ~200,000 ounces a year for ~12 years with a rapid payback of 2.9 years. At a US$1,150 gold price and a 0.80 exchange rate, the Study delivers a potential after tax internal rate of return of approximately 24.2% with an initial CAPEX of $415 million.

In addition to Back River, Sabina also owns a significant silver royalty on Glencore’s Hackett River Project. The silver royalty on Hackett River’s silver production is comprised of 22.5% of the first 190 million ounces produced and 12.5% of all silver produced thereafter.

The Company expects to end the year with ~$17 million in cash and equivalents.

For further information please contact:

Nicole Hoeller, Vice-President, Communications: 1 888 648-4218
nhoeller@sabinagoldsilver.com

NT3

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