EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT

PEA a "green light" to restart Gold Road

Para Resources plans to restart in September

Staff reporter
 Para Resources plans to restart Gold Road in September

Para Resources plans to restart Gold Road in September

President Ian Harris said the PEA was a green light for a quick restart and the company planned to begin operations in September and achieve full production by mid-2019.

"The only major capex is required to install a shaft and headframe to reduce the cost of extracting material from the mine," he said.

"We can produce using 20-tonne underground haul trucks up the 2 mile-long decline while the shaft is under construction."

The PEA put the project's post-tax NPV (5% discount) at $56.7 million with a payback of 1.5 years, assuming a long-term gold price of $1,200 per ounce.

It outlined a 7-year mine life, with 1.1 million tonnes of potential mill feed at an average diluted grade of 6.5g/t gold, with an initial rate of 250 tonnes per day and an all-in sustaining cost of $632.79/oz.

CEO Geoff Hampson said it considered the analysis a base case and had already developed strategies to ramp up production in 2019 to 500tpd, increase the head grade and take advantage of the currently higher gold price.

Para said the existing 500tpd carbon-in-pulp plant, operated from 1996-2016, was in good condition and expected to cost $0.5 million to bring back into operation.

"The NPV of this project when compared to the current market capitalisation of the whole company indicates that our shareholders will be rewarded for their patience and belief in our business plan," Hampson said.

The company finished dewatering the former underground mine in March.

It acquired the project in August 2017 through its 88%-owned subsidiary and has since expanded its holdings in the Oatman district.

Para had a working capital deficiency at the start of the year of about C$14.5 million (US$11.3 million).

It is also ramping up its El Limon gold mine in Colombia towards commercial production.

Para's shares have ranged between C12.5c-24.5c over the past year and closed unchanged yesterday at 21c, valuing the company above $30.5 million.

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