Antilles Gold Limited (“Antilles Gold” or the “Company”) (ASX: AAU, OTCQB: ANTMF) is pleased to advise the results of the Scoping Study for the first stage of the proposed Nueva Sabana gold-copper mine in Cuba. The Study has been prepared by the 50:50 Cuban joint venture company, Minera La Victoria SA (“MLV”), which is undertaking the project.
The 752ha concession covering the Nueva Sabana deposit also hosts the El Pilar, Gaspar, and Camilo porphyry copper intrusives, and numerous shallow gold targets identified by artisanal mining.
The Nueva Sabana deposit has a small 3g/t gold cap, an underlying copper-gold zone, and a deeper sulphide copper zone that is open at depth at 150m, and could potentially transition into the El Pilar porphyry copper deposit which is offset to the south.The Study has been based on a pit limited to 100m depth which at a mining rate of 500,000tpa of ore, will result in an initial mine life of 4 years.With additional exploration by the joint venture, and a greater mining depth, the project life and NPV could be increased.The Initial MRE for Nueva Sabana which is incorporated as ATTACHMENT A in the Study, established approximately 30M lb of 0.8% copper in Inferred Resources within the 50m below the planned 100m mining depth for the first stage of the development which is a positive indication of the potential to increase the mine life.Metallurgical testwork set out in ATTACHMENT C has indicated the mine will initially produce a gold concentrate with a grade of ~70.9g/t Au, followed by a blended copper-gold concentrate with an average grade of ~27.4% Cu, and 25g/t Au.
Payables for these concentrates have been received from the two international commodity traders the joint venture is negotiating with to establish an off-take agreement.
The off-take agreement is expected to include a provision for advanced payments for concentrates by the buyer, to assist in the funding of construction costs.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FINANCIAL ANALYSIS FOR STAGE ONE OF THE NUEVA SABANA MINE:
Pre-development Costs of ~USD5.0M including the concession acquisition are being met by MLV
The Chairman of Antilles Gold, Mr Brian Johnson, commented that“even though the first stage of the Nueva Sabana project is quite small, it is fortunate that it will be development-ready within a short period of time.
This is economically advantageous considering the joint venture’s flagship development, the La Demajagua gold-silver-antimony mine, had to be delayed after being expanded to allow the production of a gold doré when the market for its gold-arsenopyrite concentrate became an issue in August 2023.
Antilles Gold intends to subscribe the final US$2.0M of its US$15.0M earn-in for a 50% shareholding in the joint venture company, Minera La Victoria (“MLV”), within the next few months. Thereafter, the Company’s cash burn will be substantially reduced.
If MLV decides to undertake an exploration program on the copper properties before cash flow becomes available from the Nueva Sabana mine in Q4 2025, the required capital will probably have to come from a share issue by MLV to Antilles Gold, and, or a third party.
With respect to this possibility, MLV has recently presented commercial propositions to two major investors interested in becoming a shareholder in MLV, and participating in the exploration of its highly prospective copper properties, and the development of La Demajagua, and other gold projects potentially available to the joint venture.
However, MLV’s near term priority is to finalise negotiations on a concentrate off-take agreement for Nueva Sabana, and to arrange project financing.
Antilles Gold’s share of the NPV8 for the first stage of Nueva Sabana is ~A$70M at current metal prices of US$2,300 per oz Au, and US$4.30 per lb Cu, and an exchange rate of A$1.00 = US$0.65, which is significantly higher than the Company’s current market capitalisation of A$10.4M.
The opportunity for growth will increase with the proposed development of the La Demajagua gold- silver-antimony mine, where the Company’s share of NPV8 reported to ASX on 30 March 2023 was ~A$150M, prior to the decision to expand the project to produce gold doré from its gold arsenopyrite concentrate, and increase antimony production.”
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