The updated life-of-mine plan is focused on the exploitation of the Valley of the Kings and West Zone to deliver average annual production of more than 366,000oz during the first five years, and average annual production of over 357,000oz over the first 10 years at an average all-in sustaining cost of $747/oz, and life of mine average of 311,000oz.
The updated Brucejack proven and probable reserve estimate is 15.7 million tonnes grading 8.4 grams of per tonne for 4.2Moz at a lowered cut-off grade of 3.5g/t, which the company said better resembled recently mined grades. This represents a 33% grade reduction from the prior 12.6g/t grade and the loss of some 2.2Moz.
The revised mine plan will generate strong cash flows at a $1,600/oz gold price which the company estimates at $700 million over the next three years - sufficient to cover its $480 million of debt.
"At a gold price of $1,600, Brucejack now has an estimated after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $2.13 billion over the 13-year mine life. Since achieving commercial production in July 2017, Brucejack has generated over $500 million of cash flow and is expected to generate strong cash flow well into the future," said president and CEO Joseph Ovsenek in a statement.
"As a first pass, this appears to be a step towards setting attainable guidance," said BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Mikitchook in a research note.
About 50% of the tonnes in the 2020 mineral reserve are from the Valley of the Kings area. A mine call factor was applied to the remaining tonnes, which is a reconciliation factor derived from operational experience. It is determined by applying an upper limit to the reserve stope grade, determined by the average diamond drill hole spacing of the reserve shape. Stopes with higher drill density have a lower resulting mine call factor than stopes with lower drill density.
Pretium is running a search process to find a new president and CEO.
Shares in Pretium Resources are trading at C$10.28, valuing the company at $1.8 billion.
