The FS, which was undertaken by 49% partner Pasofino, envisaged 2.27 million oz gold produced over a 14-year life of mine with average annual production of 200,000oz for the first five years.

It views a pre-production capital requirement of $397 million, excluding owners' costs for a 5 million tonne per annum processing plant, and a payback period of about 3.5 years from the start of production.

The life of mine all in sustaining cost and cash cost were set at $1,005/oz and $29/t, respectively.

"We look forward to now working with Pasofino to conduct a strategic review of our options to best realise the maximum value of Dugbe for all stakeholders," Hummingbird CEO Dan Betts said.

Canaccord Genuity Capital Markets analyst Sam Catalano called the project's value "clearly material" and said that due to the "large scale of the upfront capex" CG does not expect Hummingbird to develop the project itself, but rather look to monetize its 51% stake.

"With HUM's market cap sitting at ~US$60 million, even a heavily discounted (versus DFS valuation) sale of HUM's stake in Dugbe would represent a material windfall, which we believe is not in the market's numbers," he said.

The publication of the FS completes Pasofino's obligations to earn 49% of the project, he said.

"The AISC has risen compared to the $893/oz estimate in the PEA released last year, and the resulting project value has fallen from US$751 million," he added.

Pasofino's CEO Ian Stalker said he was "extremely pleased" with the outcome of the study, particularly given the current environment of higher raw material, capital, and energy costs because of inflation and other global dislocations.

"We are truly in the ‘eye of the story' on capex estimates and hence it is reasonable to expect going forward to the FEED phase that as world-wide business conditions settle down significant savings can be made against this capital estimate that will naturally enhance overall project economics," he said.

"Most importantly, Pasofino is in a position to pursue strategic alternatives to maximise shareholder value now that a key milestone of a detailed and economically robust FS is available," he said.

Hummingbird's share price was GBX12.65 on June 13 and on June 14 Pasofino traded at C$0.84.