Big River Gold has hosted an opening ceremony at the site of its Borborema gold project near the city of Currais Novos in Brazil. The ceremony was attended by local business leaders, community members and politicians who learnt about the project and its impending benefits to the local area. Big River said it is looking to employ some 375 people locally when the project is in full swing.
The ceremony was timed to coincide with the centenary of the nearby city of Currais Novos.
Attendees included local heavyweights such as the Governor, Prof Maria Fàtima de Bezerra, and the Deputy Governor of Rio Grande do Norte, Snr Antenor. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Currais Novos and several business leaders, politicians and community dignitaries also attended.
The company said the support of the State Government, local authorities and the community will be important to the success of the Borborema Project that is expected to employ some 375 personnel both directly and indirectly with additional services and contractors to be drawn from the local area.
Big River’s feasibility study includes US$105m to be spent in mine and plant construction with about 65% of that being sourced from within Brazil. The company also said the annual wages bill will be US$2.7m and annual operating costs are expected to be US$46m per annum, most of which will be spent in-country.
The ASX-listed mineral exploration and development company is focussed on the Borborema gold project in Brazil, a country Big River believes is underexplored and still offers high potential for the discovery of tier-1 mineral deposits.
Borborema has a defined resource of 2.43Moz gold, located in the Seridó area of the Borborema province in north-eastern Brazil and it is 100% owned by Big River. The company operates three mining leases covering a total area of 29 square kilometres, including freehold title over the main prospect area.
According to Big River, the project benefits from a favourable taxation regime, existing on-site facilities and excellent infrastructure such as buildings, grid power, water and sealed roads.
The company’s DFS for development and construction of Stage 1 of the Borborema project was completed in December 2019 and confirms the project’s strong economics. The proposed open pit that shows a mine life of more than 10 years is expected to produce approximately 729,000 ounces of gold at an outstandingly good all in sustainable cost of US$839/oz.
The DFS, that focused on a gold price of US$1,400 per ounce, shows a post-tax NPV US$203M with an IRR of 41.8% and an average annual EBITDA of US$54M. The project's measured, indicated and inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.43Moz @ 1.10 g/t gold, remains open in all directions.
The company is continuing to source finance for project and management said there was interest from banks and other financial institutions. Big River is hoping to lock in project finance before the end of June this year with construction to commence in the third quarter.
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By Matt Birney
