Image source: Mark Agnor, Shutterstock.com.Battle North Gold Corp. (TSX: BNAU) released its first pre-feasibility study for its flagship Bateman Gold project on Wednesday, boosting shares 17 cents on 3.6 million shares.
The study supports a mine with an after-tax net present value of $305 million at the base case gold price of US$1,525 per ounce, or $531.4 million at the current gold price beyond US$1,900 an ounce. The mine's production lifetime is projected at 8.2 years, extracting an average of 73,835 ounces of gold annually, with Battle North needing to invest approximately $298.1 million in lifetime capital expenditures.
"I am very pleased to deliver the maiden Feasibility Study for our shovel-ready Bateman Gold Project," Battle North's president and CEO George Ogilvie said in the release, adding that "there are few stand-alone projects in the world that are as substantially de-risked, with significant infrastructure, with a short timeline to Initial Production, in a safe jurisdiction," as Bateman.
Ogilvie says that the company has begun development planning for Bateman, including a full risk assessment, alongside infill drilling at the F2 gold deposit on the property. He says that with Battle North's $55 million in cash on hand and "advanced discussions" to secure a debt facility for development, the company is well-positioned to bring the mine into production.
Battle North closed a $61 million bought deal back in August for "pre-development and development activities," and followed it up with drill results from the McFinley and Pen Zone targets near Bateman. The company aims to complete resource estimates for the latter two targets between Q4 2020 and Q1 2021.
Shares of Battle North are up $1.14 since April, and closed at $1.84 on Wednesday afternoon.
