Marathon approves Valentine gold project with upped capex estimate
Marathon Gold has announced that its Board of Directors has made a formal decision to proceed to construction of the Valentine gold project located in the central region of Newfoundland and Labrador.
According to its press-release, this decision has been made following the recent successful completion of the project’s provincial and federal environmental assessments, an updated cost to complete assessment, and an evaluation of the overall investment merits of the project.
Marathon said that with the project’s schedule confirmed, the company is able to give guidance on the project’s capital cost estimate, adding that it currently assesses a cost to complete of between C$470 and C$490 million.
Compared to the C$305 million initial capital cost contained within the project’s April 2021 Feasibility Study (FS), the new assessment incorporates approximately 20 months of market inflation as well as the reallocation of costs previously characterized as sustaining capital items into the initial capital period, it said.
The company also noted that new assessment also incorporates certain scope changes relating, principally, to updated staffing levels and the impact of moving from the 22-month construction schedule contained within the FS to the current 28-month construction schedule.
The cost estimate is effective as of August 2022, and includes current market bids, contracted pricing, finalized equipment leasing arrangements, and current market data for labor and consumables, including diesel. Pre-development and owner’s costs incurred to the end of July 2022 are excluded.
Marathon is a Toronto based gold company advancing its 100%-owned Valentine gold project located in the central region of Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world.
The project comprises a series of five mineralized deposits along a 20- kilometre system. An April 2021 Feasibility Study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation over a thirteen-year mine life with a 31.5% after-tax rate of return.
