Liberty Gold Sees Viable Opportunity in Idaho's Black Pine Project

TSX-listed Liberty Gold has confirmed that its Black Pine oxide gold project in Idaho is technically straightforward and has high return potential. The company's feasibility study found that a large-scale, 16-year open-pit operation requiring no ore crushing or screening is viable.

The study showed that the project can produce an average of 202,000 troy ounces of payable gold per year for the first five years from its 4.04-million-ounce probable mineral reserve. This would require an initial capital outlay of $411 million.

Over the remaining mine life, production is expected to average 176,700 troy ounces per year. The study assumes a base case gold price of $3,250 per ounce and supports strong economic returns across a range of gold prices.

The project's after-tax net present value (NPV) would be $2.3 billion at the base case price, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 60.5% and a payback period of two years. At lower gold prices, the NPV would decrease to $1.2 billion and the IRR to 33.4%, while the payback period widens to 3.4 years.

Liberty Gold president and CEO Jon Gilligan said that the feasibility study confirms the opportunity to build a long-life, large-scale operation with strong economics and a technically straightforward development path.