Castile Resources Limited (ASX:CST) has unveiled positive outcomes from the Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) undertaken on its 100% owned Rover 1 Project near Tennent Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Managing Director, Mark Hepburn, said the study has concluded with a robust, polymetallic project applying modern technology and downstream processing to meet future facing metals demand for Australia.
“We are extremely pleased with the outcomes of the Rover 1 Preliminary Feasibility Study and look forward to the task of bringing a major new Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) underground mine into production in the Northern Territory,” Mr Hepburn said.
“The key metals for the Rover 1 Project are copper and gold with cobalt and magnetite as by-products providing diversity in the revenue streams. Castile will mine and beneficiate all these metals to produce finished, end user products on site with our downstream processing facilities.
“Pure copper and critical mineral cobalt are vital components in the manufacture of Electric Vehicles (EV’s), and the batteries required to power them. The production of pure cobalt
metal aligns Castile Resources with the Federal Governments’ push to encourage domestic, downstream production of critical minerals.
“Rover 1 will be an important part of the economic landscape in Tennant Creek and the surrounding Barkly Region. We take our obligations to the traditional landowners, to our environment and to the local communities and stakeholders as an integral part of the development pathway to a sustainable mining operation.
“Castile will develop an underground mine, minimising the surface disturbance and the effect on our surrounding environment. The processing plant will be modular in design and the processing method will ensure our waste will be benign material that can be safely stored in our tailings storage facility.
“The Board of Castile Resources is of the opinion that the Preliminary Feasibility Study has been fully optimised to allow Castile to choose a path that enables the best outcomes for all our stakeholders now and into the future.”
Highlights:
• The Rover 1 PFS models an underground mine build with a modern 500,000tpa processing plant focussed on the production of gold, copper, cobalt and magnetite downstream products delivering strong economic outcomes with an initial project life of eight years.
• Financial modelling outcomes of the Rover 1 Project PFS estimate:
– A pre-tax NPV6.5 of $451.7 million with an IRR of 46%.
– Total revenues of A$1.94 billion.
– Pre-tax cash flow of A$1.02 billion.
– An undiscounted pre-tax net cash flow of A$686 million.
– Capital cost estimate of A$279.5 million (Processing Plant A$160.7M)
– A simple payback (post tax) after two years and seven months of production.
• Total production over the life of the Rover 1 Project is anticipated to be 252,300oz of gold, 58,600t of 99% copper plate, 2,560t of 99% cobalt metal and 652,300t of 96.4% magnetite (Fe3O4).
• For benchmarking purposes, at the nominated PFS prices, the average annual equivalent production in gold and alternatively in copper:
– In terms of gold – 85,400ozpa of AuEq ounces at an AISC of A$1,330/oz.
– In terms of copper – 16,100tpa of CuEq tonnes at an AISC of A$7,030/t.
• The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Rover 1 stands at:
– 5.58Mt @ 1.76g/t Au, 1.49% Cu, 0.07% Co and 23.20% Fe3O4.
• Total material considered4 in the PFS for extraction and processing is: – 4.32Mt @ 1.94g/t Au, 1.42% Cu, 0.07% Co and 22.33% Fe3O4.
• Total Ore Reserve resulting from the PFS is:
– 3.11Mt @ 2.02g/t Au, 1.52% Cu, 0.07% Co and 22.92% Fe3O4.
• Inferred Mineral Resource included in the PFS of:
– 1.20Mt @ 1.75g/t Au, 1.17% Cu, 0.07% Co and 20.78% Fe3O4
For further information please visit: https://www.castile.com.au/
