Skeena completed a Feasibility Study in September 2022 on Eskay Creek which highlights an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.4B, 50% IRR and a 1 year payback at US$1,700/oz Au and US$19/oz Ag.
Grade | Contained Ounces | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reserve Class | Tonnes (Mt) |
AuEq (g/t) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
AuEq (Moz) |
Au (Moz) |
Ag (Moz) |
Proven | 17.3 | 4.92 | 3.64 | 99 | 2.73 | 2.02 | 55.1 |
Probable | 12.6 | 2.75 | 2.10 | 50 | 1.12 | 0.85 | 20.5 |
Total | 29.9 | 4.00 | 2.99 | 79 | 3.85 | 2.87 | 75.5 |
Note: This Mineral Reserve Estimate has an effective date of June 30, 2022 and is based on the Mineral Resource estimate dated January 18, 2022 for Skeena Resources by SRK (which has been updated since the PFS). The Mineral Reserve estimate was completed under the supervision of Willie Hamilton, P.Eng. of AGP, who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. Mineral Reserves are stated within the final design pit based on a US$1,550/oz gold price and US$20.00/oz silver price. An NSR cut-off of C$24.45/t was used to define reserves based on preliminary processing costs of $18.22/t ore and G&A costs of C$6.23/t ore. The metallurgical recoveries varied according to gold head grade and concentrate grades. Gold and silver recoveries were approximately 83% overall during the LOM scheduling. Final operating costs within the pit design were C$3.72/t mined, with associated process costs of C$16.91/t ore and G&A costs of C$4.20/t ore.
*Cut-off grades are based on a price of US$1,700 per ounce of gold, US$23 per ounce silver, and gold recoveries of 90%, silver recoveries of 80% and without considering revenues from other metals. AuEq = Au (g/t) + (Ag (g/t)/74).
Learn MoreEskay Creek is a precious metal-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit. The mineralization at Eskay has been the focus of considerable exploration activity dating back to 1932. During exploration in 1988, the 21A and 21B zone were first discovered which eventually led to the opening of the Eskay Creek Mine in 1994.
Eskay was the highest-grade gold mine in the world when in production. The mine produced 3.3 million ounces of gold and 160 million ounces of silver at average grades of 45 g/t gold and 2,224 g/t silver from 1994 -2008.
Read MoreEskay is endowed with excellent infrastructure including all-weather road access and proximity to the new 287-kV Northwest Transmission Line. The Volcano Creek Hydroelectric Power Station is 7 km away from Eskay.
Since Eskay was in production, over $2 billion has been invested in infrastructure in the area.