The updated definitive feasibility study for Victoria Gold’s 100%-owned Eagle heap leach project reflects improved economics for the mine, prompting five analysts to applaud the company’s investment and takeover potential.
In a Sept. 12 press release, Victoria Gold Corp. (VIT:TSX.V) announced the fully permitted Eagle project in the Yukon has a post-tax NPV of $508M and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 29.5%, with annual gold production of ~200,000 oz, operating costs of US$539/oz, and all-in sustaining costs of US$638/oz.
“With a shovel-ready project in a top-tier geopolitical location, we believe Victoria represents a rare opportunity,” said Paradigm Capital’s Don Blyth in a report issued on Sept. 13.
“The results of the updated study are positive and robust, incorporating both the higher-grade Olive zone and the run-of- mine (RoM) heap leach. We will be reviewing our estimates and expect to make a number of tweaks, but are confident that Victoria will remain one of our favourite takeover candidates,” Blyth wrote.
“In our view, the new study confirms the economic attractiveness (and leverage) of Eagle,” analyst Adam Melnyk wrote in a Sept. 12 research report for National Bank Financial. “In addition, optimization work and exploration success over the past four years has clearly improved economics and optimized the project for a now more robust gold price environment,” Melnyk stated.
Analyst Derek Macpherson, writing for Red Cloud Klondike Strike Inc. in a Sept. 12 report, noted that, “In our view the benefits of this update have not yet been fully reflected in Victoria’s valuation and we believe that these results should be a positive catalyst for the stock. As well, there remains multiple ways for Victoria to further improve project economics providing some additional upside. We expect a project financing update, along with ongoing drill results from Olive-Shamrock, are likely to be the …read more