81 tons of gold, 570 tons of silver, IRR surpassed 60%! Silverway (SVM.US) releases preliminary economic assessment report for the Condor gold mine

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 23, Sylway Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (SVM.US, hereinafter referred to as “Sylway”) issued an announcement that its Condor gold mine project in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, Ecuador completed a preliminary economic assessment report (“PEA”) in accordance with NI43-101 standards. This PEA focuses on two underground high-grade ore bodies, Camp and Los Cuyes.

The total resources of the Camp and Los Cuyes ore bodies are 81 tons of gold, with an average grade of 2.15 g/t; 570 tons of silver, with an average grade of 14.2 grams per ton, and 23,000 tons of lead (average grade 0.06%) and 223,000 tons of zinc (average grade 0.54%). The resource potential is huge. It is planned to mine 1.8 million tons of ore every year. Within 13 years of mine service, the total ore extraction volume is 21.33 million tons, producing 43 tons of gold, 164 tons of silver, and 110,000 tons of zinc.

The project has an initial capital investment of US$292 million, a payback period of only 3 years after tax, and a full maintenance cost (AISC) of US$1,258/oz of gold (including by-product deductions). This cost level is significantly competitive in the current gold market — based on the benchmark price of 2,600 US dollars/ounce, the project's net present value (NPV 5%) is $522 million, and the after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) is 29%, and there is still considerable profit margin; if we refer to the near spot price of 4,300 US dollars/ounce, the NPV of the project after tax will soar to US$1,559 billion, and the IRR will surpass 60%, further increasing the profit margin.

The economic resilience of the project stems from multiple technical advantages. Hilway uses a combination of various beneficiation processes to achieve a total gold recovery rate of over 90%; the favorable topography of mineralized zones and ore bodies allows mining through the Pingtung Collapse Method, which greatly reduces infrastructure and mining costs. The project has strong resilience to risks in the face of metal price fluctuations, and the current trend of high precious metals prices has further amplified the profit potential of the project.

In the next step, the Condor gold mine project will obtain relevant environmental permits, carry out underground mining roadway construction, further exploration to upgrade the amount of resources, and provide a basis for subsequent feasibility research and development.