Toral project step closer towards production
Europa Metals, the European focused lead-zinc and silver developer, has announce results from an independent Preliminary Economic Study in respect of its wholly owned Toral lead, zinc and silver project, located in the region of Castilla y León, north-west Spain.
The Study has, inter alia, updated the economics from the previous Scoping Study undertaken by Addison Mining Services Limited in late 2018, and incorporated the positive findings generated from the workstreams conducted by the Company and its consultants over the last 12-18 months, including the results from ore-sorting undertaken by Bara Consulting, metallurgical testwork by Wardell Armstrong International, as well as reflecting a change in the selected future mining method and a general improvement in metal prices since 2018.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- 17Mt @ 6.7% ZnEq (including Pb credits) resource (JORC 2012) including indicated resource of 3.8Mt @ 8.1% ZnEq (including Pb and Ag credits) – 4% cut off grade
- Sub-Level Longhole Stoping mining method selected
- 700k tonnes per annum operation with a 7.6% ZnEq mined grade
- Processing comprises an ore sorting front-end using X-ray transmission followed by grinding and flotation
- Grade/recovery: 3.3% Pb/87%; 4.2% Zn/86%; 26.7g/t Ag/85%
- US$79m upfront Capex
- 3-year trailing average metals prices of US$2,668/t for zinc, US$2,099/t for lead and US$16.5/oz for silver
- US$963m Revenue over Life of Mine (LOM)
- US$477m Opex over LOM
- US$471m EBITDA over LOM
- 12-year LOM scenario
The robust updated economics (+/- 30%) for Toral are well supported by a global supply situation for lead and zinc, which the Company’s Board believes will put such higher grade potential producers at a distinct commercial advantage.
Aided by the drawdown of the initial tranche (€163,380) of the recently announced innovation grant from the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), the Company will now progress work streams towards a PFS and ultimately seek to make an application for a mining licence. This will help determine the most value accretive ways to develop the Toral project towards production.
