Western Copper And Gold Corporation · TSX:WRN
Western Copper And Gold — Investor Presentation (May 2022)
50 slides from Western Copper And Gold's investor presentation, May 2022
Slide 1: Developing Canada's Premier Copper-Gold Mine
TSX WRN NYSE AMERICAN WRN DEVELOPING CANADA’S PREMIER COPPER-GOLD MINE Corporate Presentation May 2022
Slide 2: Forward Looking Statements
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS The information provided in this presentation is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all relating to interpretation of drill results and the geological continuity and grade of mineral matters and developments concerning Western Copper and Gold Corporation and its
Slide 3: Corporate Overview
CORPORATE OVERVIEW TRADING Toronto Stock Exchange, TOP WRN Rio Tinto Canada 7.8% NYSE American SHAREHOLDERS May 2022 CASH Cash & Short-Term Fidelity Management & C$43.2 M 5.3% POSITION Investments Research Co. LLC March 31, 2022 Short/Long Term Debt $Nil Board and Senior 4.6% Management SHARE Share
Slide 4: WRN & Casino Copper-Gold Project: Clear Investment Thesis
WRN & CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT CLEAR INVESTMENT THESIS • Strongest copper market in the past decade • One of the largest copper-gold projects in Canada • Located in the Yukon – new emerging mining district • New PEA shows robust economics and long life • Strategic investment from Rio Tinto strengt
Slide 5: Rio Tinto Strategic Investment C$25.6M
RIO TINTO STRATEGIC INVESTMENT RIO TINTO OWNERSHIP C$25.6M STRATEGIC INVESTMENT & ~ 8.0% OF WESTERN’S OUTSTANDING COMMON SHARES The investment is an opportunity The Scope of Work is defined and for Rio Tinto to better understand the potential performed in partnership with Rio, of the Casino Copper-G
Slide 6: Rio Tinto Work Program Progress
RIO TINTO WORK PROGRAM PROGRESS Executing on program developed in partnership with Rio Tinto WORK COMPLETED WORK IN PROGRESS • Metallurgical and geotechnical drilling • Metallurgical studies for sulphide • Resource confirmation drilling and oxide material • Soil sampling program east and south • Com
Slide 7: Copper Key to Limiting Climate Change
THE WORLD NEEDS A LOT MORE COPPER • To keep global warming under 1.5 degrees, annual COPPER copper supply needs to grow by more than 12 Mt in 12 million tonnes the next 10 years – growth only 7 Mt in the past 20 years copper equal to KEY TO LIMITING • There are limited copper projects under developm
Slide 8: An Attractive Copper/Gold Mine
CASINO COPPER-GOLD AN ATTRACTIVE COPPER/GOLD MINE Contained 41% 38% Metal Value Distribution COPPER GOLD in the M&I Mill Resource COPPER GOLD 7.6 Billion lbs 14.5 Million oz M+I Resources M+I Resources +3.3 Billion lbs +6.6 Million oz Inferred Resources Inferred Resources 4% 18% SILVER MOLY Source:
Slide 9: 5th Largest Undeveloped Copper-Gold Project Controlled by a Junior
5th LARGEST UNDEVELOPED COPPER-GOLD PROJECT CONTROLLED BY A JUNIOR Alaska 80 Junior controlled copper project BC 150 97 Major controlled copper project 70 WRN’s Casino Copper-Gold project COPPER EQUIVALENT (B LBS) 60 CASINO 50 COPPER-GOLD PROJECT Ecuador Argentina 40 x Yukon 30 Minnesota Nevada Arge
Slide 10: 8th Largest Gold Project Controlled by a Junior
8th LARGEST GOLD PROJECT CONTROLLED BY A JUNIOR 70 107 106 Junior controlled project 60 WRN’s Casino Copper-Gold project CASINO CONTAINED GOLD (M oz) 50 COPPER-GOLD PROJECT 40 30 x 20 10 0 Source: S&P TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN 10
Slide 11: Casino Copper-Gold Project
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN
Slide 12: Casino Copper-Gold Deposit
CASINO COPPER-GOLD DEPOSIT HEAP LEACH RESOURCE 217 Million Tonnes @ 0.27 g/t AuEq (M&I) Core Zone 31 Million Tonnes @ 0.18 g/t AuEq (Inferred) CuEq Phase I Phase II 1.0 Pit Pit 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 MILL RESOURCE 2.17 Billion Tonnes @ 0.36% CuEq (M&I) 1.43 Billion Tonnes @ 0.24% CuEq (Inferred) No
Slide 13: Core Zone Grades Confirmed by Drilling
CORE ZONE GRADES CONFIRMED BY DRILLING Results confirmed or, in some cases, improved upon historical drilling CuEq 1.0 MINERAL RESOURCE - MILL MATERIAL BY NSR CUTOFF (C$) 0.8 NSR Copper Gold Moly Silver CuEq 0.6 Class Mt Cog ($/t) (%) (g/t) (%) (g/t) (%) 0.4 Measured 145.3 0.31 0.40 0.025 2.1 0.74 0
Slide 14: Grades in Line with Peers
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT GRADES IN LINE WITH PEERS Casino Mill Yr 1-4 (173 Mt) CASINO Casino Mill Phase I (1.1 Bt) COPPER-GOLD Casino Mill Phase I + II (2.1 Bt) PROJECT Operating Mine Average Copper Mountain - CMMC (466 Mt) Gibraltar - TKO (511 Mt) Highland Valley - TCK (329 Mt) PEERS Developing M
Slide 15: PEA Summary
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PEA SUMMARY PHASE I Years 0-25 $2.33 Billion 19.5% 0.38:1 3 years NPV IRR STRIP RATIO PAYBACK AFTER-TAX (8%) AFTER-TAX LOM PHASE II Year 26-47 +22 years +$3 Billion MINE LIFE LOM CASH FLOW AFTER-TAX Metal Prices Cu US$3.35/lb Au US$1,600/oz Note: Based on Casino Copper-Gol
Slide 16: Significant Contribution from Early Years
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION FROM EARLY YEARS YEARS LIFE OF 1-4 MINE AVERAGE Cash Flow (Pre-tax) (C$ M) 1,081 645 ANNUAL CASH FLOW & Cash Flow (After-tax) (C$ M) 965 487 COSTS Net Smelter Return ($/t ore milled) 41.92 28.14 Operating Cost ($/t ore milled) 9.84 9.84 AVERAGE Cop
Slide 17: PEA Operating Cash Costs
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PEA OPERATING CASH COSTS BASE CASE COPPER Cash Cost Net of By-Product (1.13) COSTS (C$/lb) Co-Product Cash Cost (Cu) 1.66 (C$/lb) GOLD Cash Cost Net of By-Product (1,353) COSTS (C$/oz) Co-Product Cash Cost (Au) 794 (C$/oz) Note: Based on Casino Copper-Gold 2021 PEA at base
Slide 18: PEA Capital Costs
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PEA CAPITAL COSTS PROJECTED CAPITAL COSTS C$ Millions PROCESS PLANT & Project Directs (including freight) $1,777 INFRASTRUCTURE Project Indirects $390 Contingency $412 Subtotal Process Plant $2,579 and Infrastructure MINE COSTS Mine Equipment $409 Mine Preproduction $211 S
Slide 19: Economic Throughout the Commodity Cycle
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT ECONOMIC THROUGHOUT THE COMMODITY CYCLE COPPER PRICE ($US) $2.50 $3.00 $3.35 $4.00 $4.50 $5.00 $5.50 NPV 8% (C$M) $654 $1,209 $1,597 $2,309 $2,857 $3,405 $3,952 $1,200 IRR % 11.6% 14.4% 16.1% 19.1% 21.2% 23.3% 25.2% Payback (yrs) 4.8 3.9 3.5 3.0 2.8 2.6 2.4 NPV 8% (C$M) $1
Slide 20: ESG Commitment
ESG COMMITMENT SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE Committed to health and safety Committed to exceeding best Committed to high ethical and committed to the protection practices in protecting the standards and building of cultural values environment long term value • Ongoing Engagement with Local • Acce
Slide 21: Working with the Community
WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY • Closure by rock/sand cover limiting Tailings Facility Redesign the need for tailings “pond” Reduced Risk, Reduced • Several other changes to the design Environmental Impact and to reduce construction risk Improved Safety • Redesign incorporates the outcomes of the BATT s
Slide 22: Access Road Funding Secured
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT ACCESS ROAD FUNDING SECURED Committed from C$130 Million Governments for the Casino Funding Copper-Gold Access Road Construction started early 2022 Agreements reached with First Nations on key aspects of remaining road Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Yukon Premi
Slide 23: Key Asset in an Emerging New District
KEY ASSET IN AN EMERGING NEW DISTRICT Major miners in area – Rio Tinto, Newmont, Agnico-Eagle, Kinross, and others ~ 30 million ounces of gold in district* Significant exploration upside Government commitment to fund access to area 2 Projects in permitting Community and First Nation support *Based o
Slide 24: Enterprise Value/Project NPV Benchmarking
ENTERPRISE VALUE/PROJECT NPV (STUDY) BENCHMARKING 2.33x WRN trades at 0.12x NPV, a significant discount to its peers 1.26x 1.14x WESTERN COPPER & GOLD 0.54x 0.47x 0.32x 0.29x 0.21x 0.20x 0.15x 0.12x 0.10x 0.09x 0.08x 0.07x (NorhtMet) 0.05x 0.05x Northern Dynasty Trilogy Metals Highland Copper (Pumpk
Slide 25: Enterprise Value/Copper Equivalent Resource Benchmarking
ENTERPRISE VALUE/COPPER EQUIVALENT RESOURCE BENCHMARKING (US¢/lb CuEq) ¢20.7 WRN is undervalued with greater growth ¢18.7 opportunity compared to its peers ¢17.2 WESTERN COPPER & GOLD ¢5.8 ¢4.7 ¢4.1 ¢2.3 ¢2.1 ¢2.0 ¢1.7 ¢1.4 ¢1.1 ¢0.8 ¢0.7 ¢0.4 ¢0.4 ¢0.1 (NorthMet) Northern Dynasty Trilogy Metals Hig
Slide 26: Path Forward and Investment Highlights
PATH FORWARD AND INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS Casino Copper and Gold Significant Yukon – Clear path to Project already ticks copper and an emerging unlock value many of the boxes gold project mining district Execute program Complete Submit Upcoming developed in partnership Feasibility EA proposal, Catalyst
Slide 27: Analyst Coverage
ANALYST COVERAGE CORMARK SECURITIES ROTH CAPITAL PARTNERS H.C. WAINWRIGHT & CO. Stefan Ioannou Heiko F. Ihle, CFA 416 943 4222 949 720 7108 212 356 0500 TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN 27
Slide 28: Appendix
APPENDIX TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN
Slide 29: Key Management Team with Successful Track Record
KEY MANAGEMENT TEAM WITH SUCCESSFUL TRACK RECORD Former investment Metallurgical Engineer with 30 years leadership and banker with a focus significant management development experience on capital markets and metallurgical overseeing the de-risking and mergers experience in increasingly and advanceme
Slide 30: Board of Directors
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ken Williamson, Former investment banker. Mr. Williamson has served on B.A.Sc., MBA, P.Eng the boards of Eicon Technology Corporation, Glamis Gold Director & Interim Chairman Ltd., BioteQ Environmental Technologies Inc., Uranium One Inc., BlackRock Ventures Inc., Quadra FNX Mining
Slide 31: History
HISTORY 1917: First known record of mineral claim 1930’s: Discovery of silver-lead veins 1965-1980: 370 tonnes of hand-cobbed lead/silver ore sent to Trail, BC 1967: ID of Cu porphyry potential Brameda, Quintana & Teck diamond drill 12,300 m +RC drill 5,200 m 1991: Archer, Cathro and Associates diam
Slide 32: Project Team
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PROJECT TEAM Engineering Lead: M3 Engineering & Development • Geotechnical: Knight Piésold • Mining: Independent Mining Consultants, Inc. • Metallurgical: ALS Metallurgical, International Metallurgical & Environmental, Arcadis (Chile) • Access road: Associated Engineering
Slide 33: Excellent Location
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT EXCELLENT LOCATION Yukon, Canada – Low political risk Population 40,000 Casino project is located 380 km from Whitehorse, Yukon 560 km from year-round port at Skagway, Alaska Mine and mill are in Selkirk First Nation Traditional Territory – same territory as the Minto mine
Slide 34: Property Geology
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PROPERTY GEOLOGY Note: Based on Casino Copper-Gold 2021 PEA. See “Notes” in Appendix. TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN 34
Slide 35: Property Geology
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PROPERTY GEOLOGY Note: High grade zone dips off section. East-west longitudinal section 6958400 N. Based on Casino Copper-Gold 2021 PEA. See “Notes” in Appendix. TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN 35
Slide 36: Mining
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT MINING Pit designs for five mining phases were developed to produce 45.4 M tonnes per year of mill feed ore Mill material is limited to approximately 1.1 billion tonnes due to TMF capacity The pits were designed with 36 m wide ramps, 20 m benches. 45 degree overall pit slo
Slide 37: Processing
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PROCESSING Milling • Throughput: average LOM 124,000 tonnes per day • Grinding Circuit: 40 ft SAG Mill (29 MW) + 2 x 28 ft Ball Mills (22 MW each) • Medium – soft ore: BWi – 14.1 kWh/t, 200 µm primary grind Flotation • Conventional copper/moly circuit • Recoveries: Copper
Slide 38: Excellent Concentrate Quality
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT EXCELLENT CONCENTRATE QUALITY ELEMENT AVG VALUE UNIT ELEMENT AVG VALUE UNIT Copper 28 % Molybdenum 57.4 % Gold 25 g/t Copper MOLYBDENUM CONCENTRATE 0.39 % Silver 120 g/t COPPER CONCENTRATE Rhenium 133.5 g/t Molybdenum 0.05 % Iron 0.8 % Iron 26 % Sulphur 37.9 % Sulphur 36 %
Slide 39: Infrastructure Roads
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT INFASTRUCTURE ROADS Straight-Forward Road Access All roads are well maintained and used year-round • 380 km from Whitehorse • 560 km from Skagway, Alaska (concentrate load-out facility) - 358 km – existing major highway - 70 km – existing road to be upgraded by Yukon Gover
Slide 40: Infrastructure Power & Port
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT INFRASTRUCTURE POWER & PORT Power • Power to be supplied by 3 gas turbine generators for a combined installed capacity of > 200 MW • Fuel – LNG trucked from Ft. Nelson • MOU signed with Ferus Natural Gas Fuels Inc. to supply LNG • City of Whitehorse currently powered by LN
Slide 41: Second Phase Development
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT SECOND PHASE DEVELOPMENT PHASE I PHASE I + II DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT Sustaining Capital $719 million $1,808 million Total LOM Capital $3.97 billion $5.01 billion LOM pre-tax free cash flow $13.0 billion $17.2 billion LOM after-tax free cash flow $9.0 billion $12.0 billion
Slide 42: PEA Operating Cost
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT PEA OPERATING COST (C$/TONNE) MILLING Milling $5.72 OPERATION Mining $3.66 General & Administrative $0.45 Total $9.84 HEAP LEACH Heap Leach Operation $1.30 OPERATION ADR/SART $4.67 Total $5.98 Note: Based on Casino Copper-Gold 2021 PEA at base case metal prices. See “Notes
Slide 43: Comparable Opex
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT COMPARABLE OPEX Mill Throughput Casino Copper-Gold (PEA) 120,000 tpd Copper Mountain (2020) 45,000 tpd Copper Mountain (2021) Mount Milligan (2020) 60,000 tpd Mount Milligan (2021) Gibraltar (2020) 85,000 tpd Gibraltar (2021) Highland Valley (2020) 155,000 tpd Highland Val
Slide 44: Comparable Capex
Unit Capex (US$/t CuEq/y) $5,000 $0 $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 $25,000 $30,000 $35,000 $40,000 Florence Copper ($0.2 B) Los Helados ($1.2 B) Agua Rica ($2.2 B) Carrapateena ($0.7 B) Mantoverde ($0.8 B) Pumpkin Hollow ($1.1 B) CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT Josemaria ($2 B) Resolution ($6 B) Ann Mason ($1.4
Slide 45: Ana and Casino B
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT ANA AND CASINO B Note: See “Notes” in Appendix TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN 45
Slide 46: Deeper Porphyry Targets
CASINO COPPER-GOLD PROJECT DEEPER PORPHYRY TARGETS Current deposit outline • Additional geophysical targets identified at depth Chargeability @ 67 mS MT @ 66 mS Source: Witherly, Ken, “New Riches from Old Data; a Re-evaluation of Legacy Data from the Casino Deposit, Yukon”, AME Roundup, January 25,
Slide 47: 2020 Casino Copper-Gold Resource
2020 CASINO COPPER-GOLD RESOURCE MILL RESOURCE ($5.70/t NSR CUTOFF) Copper Gold Moly Silver CuEq Copper Gold Moly Silver Class Mt (%) (g/t) (%) (g/t) (%) (M lb) (M oz) (M lb) (M oz) Measured 145.3 0.31 0.40 0.025 2.1 0.74 986 1.9 80.6 9.8 Indicated 2,028.0 0.14 0.17 0.016 1.4 0.33 6,448 10.9 731.0 9
Slide 48: 2020 Casino Copper-Gold Resource
2020 CASINO COPPER-GOLD RESOURCE HEAP LEACH RESOURCE ($5.46/t NSR CUT-OFF) Copper Gold Silver AuEq Copper Gold Silver Class Mt (%) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (M lb) (M oz) (M oz) Measured 37.2 0.05 0.45 2.8 0.48 39.3 0.5 3.3 Indicated 180.2 0.03 0.21 1.7 0.23 127.2 1.2 10.0 M+I 217.4 0.03 0.25 1.9 0.27 166.5
Slide 49: Notes
NOTES “Casino Copper-Gold PEA” • NSR value for hypogene sulphide mill material is: Technical report entitled “Casino Copper-Gold Project, Form - NSR (C$/t) = $60.18 x copper (%) + $41.01 x gold (g/t) + $214.94 x moly (%) + 43-101 F1 Technical Report Preliminary Economic Assessment, Yukon, Canada" 0.
Slide 50: Contact
info@westerncopperandgold.com 604 684 9497 www.westerncopperandgold.com TSX | NYSE AMERICAN | WRN
Western Copper and Gold — Investor Presentation (May 2022) on 6ix