The Buriticá project is Continental Gold’s 100%-owned flagship high-grade gold project located in the middle Cauca belt in the northwest region of Colombia. Fully permitted and on schedule for 2020 production, the project is easily accessible by an approximately two-hour drive on the paved Pan-American highway from Medellín, Colombia’s second largest city.
Comprised of two major vein systems, the project boasts a rare combination of size, grade, excellent metallurgy and growth-potential.
Highlights
- Feasibility Study and Updated Post-tax Economic Model demonstrates that the Buriticá project will be a lowest quartile cost producer and an economically robust gold mine
- Feasibility Study base case scenario utilizes a gold price of $1,200/ounce, a silver price of $15/ounce and an exchange rate (US$:COP (Colombian Peso)) of 1:2,850, resulting in the following economics:
- The after-tax net present value at a 5% discount (“NPV5“) amounts to $0.86 billion;
- The after-tax Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 31.2%; and
- Capital payback of 2.3 years;
- Initial capital costs in the Feasibility Study were $389.2 million, including contingency but excluding working capital. Management’s current total project cost estimate (including scope changes), determined internally and subject to change, is $512 million (including contingency but excluding working capital), which the Company believes is accurate within -5%/+10%. The Company does not currently envision any additional major scope changes to the project infrastructure as detailed engineering is well advanced. As a result, the updated post-tax economics (based on the same assumptions as are set forth in the Feasibility Study other than the pre-production capital costs) are:
- After-tax net present value at a 5% discount (“NPV”): $780 million
- After-tax internal rate of return (“IRR”): 25.3%
- Capital payback: 2.9 years
- Feasibility Study base case scenario utilizes a gold price of $1,200/ounce, a silver price of $15/ounce and an exchange rate (US$:COP (Colombian Peso)) of 1:2,850, resulting in the following economics:
- Mineral Reserves for the combined Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems totaling 3.71 million ounces of gold and 10.7 million ounces of silver (13.72 million tonnes grading 8.4 g/t gold and 24.3 g/t silver)
- Mineral Resources: 5.67 million M&I gold (eq) ounces @ 11 g/t from 16.02 million tonnes, 6.46 million Inferred gold (eq) ounces @ 9.2 g/t from 21.87 million tonnes
- Significant exploration upside: multi-million ounces of existing Inferred gold not included in Feasibility Study; both deposits remain open along strike and depth; four new vein systems at drill-ready stage
- Environmental permitting completed: Buriticá is a Project of National Strategic Interest (PINE)
- Vein continuity and robust mineability: pilot-scale mine operating for 23 years; over 10 km of underground development completed; trial mining stopes successfully extracted by long-hole (see May 3, 2016 news release).
All references to mineral reserves and the mineral resource estimate are sourced from the technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Buriticá Mineral Resource 2019-01, Antioquia, Colombia” dated March 18, 2019 with an effective date of January 30, 2019. A copy of the technical report can be accessed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or on this website.
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