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Vista Gold Corp. Announces Board Approval for Preparation of a Pre-Feasibility Study on its Mt. Todd Gold Project
DENVER, June 23 /CNW/ -- Vista Gold Corp. ("Vista") (TSX & NYSE Amex Equities: VGZ) is pleased to...
About this update from Vista Gold Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nDENVER, June 23 /CNW/ -- Vista Gold Corp. ("Vista") (TSX & NYSE Amex\nEquities: VGZ) is pleased to announce that following a review of the results\nof the recently completed Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"), the Board \nhas approved the expenditure of funds for the preparation of a Preliminary\nFeasibility Study ("PFS") on its Mt. Todd gold project. Vista has awarded a\ncontract to Tetra Tech Inc. of Golden, Colorado, to manage and prepare the PFS\nin accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101-Standards of Disclosure\nfor Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). The contract for the process and\ninfrastructure engineering portion of the PFS has been awarded to Ausenco\nLimited of Queensland, Australia. In addition, Resource Development inc. of\nDenver, Colorado, will continue to supervise metallurgical testing and act as\nmetallurgical consultant.\n\n\nThe PFS will be based on the base case scenario presented in the PEA,\nexcept that in accordance with NI 43-101, the PFS will not include inferred\nresources. The base case final pit, using a break-even gold price of US$600\nper ounce was estimated to contain 147.6 million tonnes of measured and\nindicated resources(1) with an average grade of 0.90 grams gold per tonne,\ncontaining 4.25 million ounces of gold. The goal of the PFS is to refine and\noptimize these estimates to determine the potential economics of the proposed\noperation. The PEA reported an estimated mine life of 15.2 years with total\nestimated gold production of 3.7 million ounces resulting in estimated pre-tax\nnet cash flow of US$646.7 million at a US$750 per ounce gold price. At the\nsame gold price the pre-tax NPV8 (net present value with an 8% discount rate)\nwas estimated to be US$232.9 million and the internal rate of return was\nestimated to be 21.6%. Pre-production capital was estimated to be US$323.1\nmillion. Cash operating costs were estimated to be US$453 per ounce. The PEA\nis preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources, see\nCautionary Notes 2 and 3.\n\n\nFred Earnest, President and COO of Vista, stated, "It was a logical\ndecision to spend the approximate US$1 million to complete the PFS, which\nmanagement believes will enable it to confirm the economic and technical\nfeasibility of the Mt. Todd gold project. If the e...