TriStar Gold’s Brazil project nearly doubles in value after prefeasibility update

TriStar Gold (TSXV: TSG) has released a new prefeasibility study (PFS) for its flagship Castelo de Sonhos gold project in Brazil’s Pará state with updated cost estimates and current metal prices, replacing its previous study completed in 2021.Based on a higher capital cost estimate of $296 million (versus $261 million) and based-case gold price of $2,200/oz. (versus $1,550/oz.), the project’s after-tax net present value (discounted at 5%) is estimated at $603 million, with an internal rate of return of 40% and payback of two years.Previously, the NPV and IRR were calculated at $321 million and 28% respectively, with a longer payback period.“The updated study is a key step in our advancement of Castelo de Sonhos, demonstrating gold price leverage and robust economics at a time of record high gold prices and a scarcity of permitted development assets,” TriStar’s CEO Nick Appleyard commented in a press release.The Castelo de Sonhos gold project is designed to be an open pit mine operation accompanied by processing facilities with a nominal milling rate of 10,000 tonnes per day. The deposit is estimated to hold mineral reserves of 38.7 million tonnes grading 1.1 grams gold per tonne, containing 1.4 million oz. of gold.In the new PFS, there were no changes to the project’s reserve or resource estimates.According to the 2021 study, the current gold reserves are expected to support an 11-year mine operation divided into two phases, with the first phase (years 1-6) focusing on higher-grade material to yield average production of 146,000 oz., and the remaining years yielding lower production of 91,000 oz. Overall, its life-of-mine production is expected to average 121,000 oz.Permit statusIn addition to the new PFS, TriStar has also provided a positive update on the status of its preliminary Castelo de Sonhos mining permit, which was issued in August 2024 but has since been subject to civil inquiry over its environmental concerns.In Monday’s press release, the company said an independent legal opinion has suggested that its project “does not have the potential to interfere with Indigenous lands named in the prosecutor’s case.” The legal counsel also noted that the EIA (environmental impact assessment) for Castelo de Sonhos is “complete, robust and adequate,” and it sees no sufficient evidence to support concerns raised by the prosecutor.Moreover, TriStar said it has been notified by SEMAS, the main regulatory permitting authority in Pará state, that its permit for the project remains valid and in good standing.Shares of TriStar Gold shot up 9.1% by midday Monday following the company’s latest updates, giving the Arizona-based explorer a market capitalization of C$50.4 million.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com