Red Eagle Mining Completes Feasibility Study With 52% IRR
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sep 9, 2014) - Red Eagle Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:RD)(OTCQX:RDEMF) is pleased to announce the results from the positive Feasibility Study for the San Ramon deposit on its 100% owned Santa Rosa Gold Project located in Antioquia, Colombia. Highlights include (all amounts in US$):
- Based on a long-term forecast price of $1,300/ounce gold ("Base Case") post-tax Internal Rate of Return is 52% with a payback period of just 1.5 years;
- Initial capital costs for the project are $63 million plus $7 million contingency and $4 million of recoverable VAT;
- Average cash costs of $600/ounce and all-in sustaining costs of $758/ounce; and
- Production in the first two years will average 71,000 ounces of gold per year at an average grade of 6.48 grams gold per tonne.
Table 1 - Summary of San Ramon Pre-Tax Economic Results by Gold Price
| Pre-Tax | Alternative Case | Base Case | Alternative Case | ||||||
| Gold Price (ounce) | $ | 1,100 | $ | 1,300 | $ | 1,500 | |||
| Net Cash Flow | $ | 98 million | $ | 171 million | $ | 243 million | |||
| Net Present Value (5%) | $ | 74 million | $ | 135 million | $ | 195 million | |||
| Internal Rate of Return | 39 | % | 62 | % | 82 | % | |||
| Payback | 1.7 years | 1.3 years | 1.1 years | ||||||
Table 2 - Summary of San Ramon Post-Tax Economic Results by Gold Price
| Post-Tax | Alternative Case | Base Case | Alternative Case | ||||||
| Gold Price (ounce) | $ | 1,100 | $ | 1,300 | $ | 1,500 | |||
| Net Cash Flow | $ | 77 million | $ | 138 million | $ | 211 million | |||
| Net Present Value (5%) | $ | 56 million | $ | 108 million | $ | 168 million | |||
| Internal Rate of Return | 32 | % | 52 | % | 74 | % | |||
| Payback | 1.9 years | 1.5 years | 1.1 years | ||||||
The Feasibility Study ("FS") was prepared by Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd. ("Lycopodium") in accordance with the definitions in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). Lycopodium is an international engineering and project management consultancy headquartered in Australia, which has completed feasibility studies and provided Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management ("EPCM") services to a large number of successful gold projects globally.
Project Mineral Reserves
The reserves outlined in the Feasibility Study are shown in Table 3 below and use an average cut-off of 2.00 grams gold per tonne and a minimum mining width of 2.5 metres. Proven and Probable reserves include dilution by Measured and Indicated resources below the mining cutoff grade inside of mineable areas with an average grade of 1.60 grams gold per tonne.
Table 3 - San Ramon Reserves Estimate
| Tonnes | Gold (g/t) | Gold (ounces) | |
| Proven | 429,000 | 5.95 | 82,000 |
| Probable | 1,995,000 | 5.04 | 323,000 |
| Proven & Probable | 2,424,000 | 5.20 | 405,000 |
Mining and Processing
The Feasibility Study is based on San Ramon being an underground mining operation using conventional shrinkage stoping mining methods with delayed backfill using dry filtercake process tailings and development waste. Colombian mining contractors will be utilised and mining costs are based on contractor proposals.
The ore will be processed incorporating single-stage crushing, SAG milling and floatation with concentrate re-grinding followed by conventional carbon-in-leach ("CIL") processing the combined float tails and reground concentrate to produce gold doré on site. The leached tailings will be detoxified and filtered for use as mine backfill and dry stacking on surface. Expected metallurgical gold recovery is 96% with a total estimated 388,000 ounces of recoverable gold to be produced.
The total ore mined includes 2.42 million tonnes of Proven and Probable reserves and an additional 334,000 tonnes of internal dilution of material that is included at zero grade. Total volume/tonnage dilution of 23% is included in the mineable material. The plant is designed to operate at a processing rate of 1,000 tonnes per day and a total of 2.75 million tonnes of ore will be mined over eight years at an average run of mine ("ROM") diluted mill feed grade of 4.57 grams gold per tonne. San Ramon's projected annual gold production is summarised below:
Table 4 - San Ramon Projected Eight Year Annual Gold Production
| Year | Tonnes Milled | ROM Gold Grade (g/t) | Recoverable Gold (oz) |
| 1 | 352,000 | 6.21 | 68,000 |
| 2 | 360,000 | 6.74 | 75,000 |
| 3 | 360,000 | 4.49 | 50,000 |
| 4 | 360,000 | 4.11 | 45,000 |
| 5 | 360,000 | 4.67 | 52,000 |
| 6 | 360,000 | 3.24 | 36,000 |
| 7 | 360,000 | 2.77 | 30,000 |
| 8 | 246,000 | 4.25 | 32,000 |
| Years 1-8 | 2,758,000 | 4.57 | 388,000 |
Capital and Operating Costs
The estimated capital and operating costs for San Ramon are summarised below. Indirect costs include EPCM and owner's costs. Sustaining capital for ongoing underground development has been budgeted at $33 million throughout the eight year mine life.
Table 5 - San Ramon Initial Capital Costs
| Mine Underground | $ | 9,432,000 |
| Processing | $ | 31,458,000 |
| Total Direct Costs | $ | 40,890,000 |
| Indirect Costs | $ | 17,584,000 |
| Working Capital | $ | 4,048,000 |
| Contingency | $ | 7,005,000 |
| Total Capital Costs | $ | 69,527,000 |
| Recoverable VAT | $ | 4,219,000 |
| Import Duties | $ | 399,000 |
| Total | $ | 74,145,000 |
Table 6 - San Ramon Operating Costs
| $/Tonne | $/Ounce | |||
| Mining | 37 | 265 | ||
| Processing | 25 | 180 | ||
| Other | 11 | 75 | ||
| Royalties | 11 | 80 | ||
| Cash Costs | $ | 84 | $ | 600 |
| Sustaining Capital | 11 | 74 | ||
| Taxes | 12 | 84 | ||
| All-In Sustaining Costs | $ | 107 | $ | 758 |
Opportunities for enhanced economics
Doré produced will contain silver which has not been included in reserves or the Feasibility Study economic analysis. Based on metallurgical tests and studies, silver grades are approximately 1.85 times gold grades with recoveries of approximately 69%.
High-grade, relatively narrow, veins are known to exist across a number of areas on the Santa Rosa Gold Project outside of the current reserves. Over 1,700 historic adits have been mapped. These veins could potentially be mined as separate small-scale operations to provide high-grade feedstock to supplement mill feed grade and production.
The San Ramon Gold Deposit is open at depth (with the bulk of the current reserves within 200 metres of the surface) and on strike, plunging to the east on to concessions recently acquired from AngloGold Ashanti (news release dated June 3, 2014). Delineation drilling at depth and to the east is planned for 2015.
A number of separate exploration targets have been identified on the 350 km² Santa Rosa Gold Project and are ready for drill testing. These targets have similar characteristics to the San Ramon Gold Deposit with anomalous gold geochemistry, potassic alteration and extensive historic underground and surface workings. In providing for potential exploration success in delineating additional reserves, current major equipment and layout has been designed with built-in capacity to accommodate an expansion to double the throughput rates without disrupting production. Such an expansion would include an additional ball mill, tower mill, filter press and three leach tanks at an estimated total cost of under $15 million.
Comparison to September 2013 Preliminary Economic Assessment
The Feasibility Study results are compared in Table 7, below, with the figures reported in the September 2013 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"). While there has been a modest $5 million reduction in the Net Present Value (5%), the Internal Rate of Return has escalated from 38% to 52%. This has predominately been driven by a 19% reduction in initial capital costs and a 35% reduction in sustaining capital. As expected, life of mine recoverable ounces has declined reflecting the fact that inferred resources, while included in the PEA, are excluded from the Feasibility Study mine plan. As average annual production is broadly unchanged the exclusion of the inferred ounces has expectedly reduced mine life from ten to eight years. Metallurgical recoveries have improved from 93% to 96%. Cash costs and all-in sustaining costs have decreased by $20/ounce and $60/ounce respectively.
Table 7 - San Ramon PEA/FS Comparison
| 2013 PEA | 2014 FS | |||||
| Gold Price (oz) | $ | 1,300 | $ | 1,300 | ||
| Net Present Value (5%) | $ | 113 million | $ | 108 million | ||
| Internal Rate of Return | 38 | % | 52 | % | ||
| Payback | 1.7 years | 1.5 years | ||||
| Mine Life | 10 years | 8 years | ||||
| Min. Mining Width | 2.0 metres | 2.5 metres | ||||
| ROM Gold Grade (g/t) | 4.76 | 4.57 | ||||
| Metallurgical Recovery | 93 | % | 96 | % | ||
| Recoverable Gold (oz) | 514,000 | 388,000 | ||||
| Initial Capital Costs | $ | 91 million | $ | 74 million | ||
| Sustaining Capital | $ | 51 million | $ | 33 million | ||
| Cash Costs | $ | 620 | $ | 600 | ||
| All-In Sustaining Costs | $ | 818 | $ | 758 | ||
The complete NI 43-101 Technical Report pertaining to the Feasibility Study will be filed within 45 days and will be available on Red Eagle Mining's website and www.sedar.com. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Red Eagle Mining's Vice President of Exploration, Jeff Toohey P.Eng., who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101.
The following Qualified Persons as defined under NI 43-101 are independent of Red Eagle Mining and responsible for the Technical Report and Feasibility Study for the San Ramon project development:
| Qualified Person | Firm | Scope of Responsibility | ||
| Stefan Gueorguiev - P. Eng. | Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd. | Process Design and Financial Analysis | ||
| Michael Lindholm - C.P.G. | Mine Development Associates | Geology and Mineral Resources | ||
| Thomas Dyer - P. E. | Mine Development Associates | Mining, Mine Planning and Mineral Reserves | ||
| Terry Eldridge - P. Eng. | Golder Associates Colombia S.A.S. | Geotechnical, Tailings Management and Design and Hydrology | ||
| W. Joseph Schlitt - Ph.D. P. Eng. | Hydrometal Inc. | Metallurgy and Processing |
About Red Eagle Mining
Red Eagle Mining is a well-financed gold exploration and development company with an experienced mine-development team. Management is focused on building shareholder value through discovering and developing gold projects with low costs and low technical risks in Colombia, a jurisdiction with prolific historic production but until recently limited modern exploration. Red Eagle Mining is developing the 350 km² historic Santa Rosa Gold Project located in the Antioquia Batholith. Development will initially commence with the San Ramon Gold Deposit where the positive Feasibility Study supports project development. Project finance and permitting are well advanced.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
Contact
Red Eagle Mining Corp.
Ian Slater
Chief Executive Officer
+1 604 638 2545
info@redeaglemining.com
www.redeaglemining.com
James Beesley
Investor Relations
+1 604 682 4600 or Toll Free: +1 855 682 4600
Mobile: +1 778 389 7715
james@sequoiapartners.ca
