Brad Rourke, CEO, and Thomas Mumford, President of Scottie Resources (TSX.V:SCOT – OTCQB:SCTSF), both join us to review the key aspects of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) released to the market on October 28th. Additionally, we get an update on the bulk sample progress, the main objectives focused on in the 2025 drill program, and the feasibility-level ore sorting study underway at the Scottie Gold Mine Project; located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia.
The PEA outlines a robust Direct-Ship Ore (“DSO”) development scenario for the Scottie Gold Mine Project, with strong economics and leverage to the current gold price environment, and additional upside potential through toll milling.
- The base case DSO project delivers an after-tax NPV(5%) ranging from CAD$215.8 million to CAD$668.3 million at gold prices of US$2,600/oz and US$4,200/oz, respectively.
- Importantly, the PEA also presents the opportunity to utilize excess capacity at the nearby Premier mill through a toll-milling arrangement, which could significantly enhance project economics. Under this scenario, the after-tax NPV(5%) increases to CAD$380.1 million at US$2,600/oz and CAD$831.7 million at US$4,200/oz (note: no toll-milling agreement is currently in place).
- The PEA contemplates an initial capital cost of CAD$128.6 million and average annual production of approximately 65,400 ounces of gold over a seven-year mine life. The project demonstrates a compelling after-tax payback period of 1.7 years for the standalone DSO case, and just 0.9 years under the toll-milling opportunity at a gold price of US$2,600/oz.
- The DSO project is planned to commence with open pit mining at the Blueberry Contact Zone, closely followed by underground mining at the Blueberry Contact Zone, and subsequently the Scottie Gold Mine.
- The mined material will be then jaw crushed and sorted using an XRF based ore sorting system.
- The upgraded product will be transported to the Stewart bulk shipping facility located 40 km down an existing road to be shipped overseas.
- The material would be then sold to Ocean Partners based on the negotiated terms in the existing offtake agreement
- The company then plans to move straight into work streams for a Feasibility Study (FS) with actual cost estimates and more detailed economics as the next major economic study to be undertaken 8-10 months after all the 2025 drill results from the 27,309 meter program are in hand.
We got into the resource assumptions used in the PEA, but both Brad and Thomas outlined how these resources are going to expand now that 4 diamond drill rigs were turning this year in the largest exploration program to date, across different parts of the high-priority Blueberry Contact Zone, and around the past-producing Scottie Gold Mine. A key initiative was infilling areas with tighter spacing, focused on upgrading the resources from inferred to indicated categories at the Blueberry Contact Zone. However many of the holes will also go deeper doing some true exploration work with a focus on expanding the potential open pit and upper portions of the underground resources at both Blueberry and Scottie areas.
Next we touched on the ongoing 10,000-tonne surface bulk sampling program where they have completed the blasting and mucking of mineralized material from the road-accessible outcropping Bend Vein located on the north end of the Scottie Gold Mine Project. The crushing and transportation of this material has also been completed moving many truckloads of material down the Granduc road to the Stewart bulk shipping facility without any concerns or challenges. Brad and Thomas outline that this bulk sample will be a nice opportunity to learn more about a number of metrics and provide a nice proof of concept, as well as generating some non-dilutive capital for the Company in the process.
Wrapping up we discussed the ongoing Phase 2 ore-sorting study underway, that will be a more advanced Feasibility Study level test of upgrading the ore, with the strategy to reduce the amount of waste rock before shipping. Ore sorting could significantly enhance the efficiencies of the overall DSO strategy, and those results are due out in Q4 as another key company catalyst by year end.
If you have any questions for Brad or Thomas regarding Scottie Resources, then please email them in to us at Fleck@kereport.com or Shad@kereport.com.
- In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Scottie Resources at the time of this recording and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.
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