Barksdale Announces San Javier Preliminary Economic Assessment
Barksdale Announces San Javier Preliminary
Economic Assessment
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 9, 2024) - Barksdale Resources Corp. (TSXV:
BRO) (OTCQX: BRKCF) ("
Barksdale
" or the "
Company
") is pleased to announce the positive results
of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("
PEA
") completed on the San Javier oxide copper-gold project
located in Sonora, Mexico. The PEA envisions a modest capital cost project utilizing conventional open-
pit mining with a solvent-extraction and electrowinning ("
SXEW
") plant to produce LME-grade copper
cathodes on-site. A copy of the PEA, prepared in accordance with the requirements set forth in
Canadian National Instrument 43-101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects
("
NI 43-101
") will be
filed under the Company's SEDAR+ profile within 45 days of this news release. All currency references
in the PEA and this news release are in U.S. Dollars.
PEA Highlights
San Javier PEA shows robust economics using a conservative base case copper price of $4.00
per pound.
13-year mine life producing 209 million pounds of cathode copper via an on-site SXEW;
Conventional open pit mining with a very low waste to ore ratio of 0.66 to 1;
Life of mine average cash costs of $2.16/lb copper produced;
Pre-tax NPV (7%) of $111.8 million, with an IRR of 26.3% and payback of 3.8 years;
After-tax NPV (7%) of $61.5 million, with an IRR of 18.1% and payback of 5.3 years;
At $4.50/lb copper, the after-tax NPV (7%) increases significantly to $103.3 million, with an
IRR of 24.8% and a payback of four years;
Low initial capital costs of $116.8 million; and
Excellent growth opportunities including resource expansion, assessing the potential for gold
recovery, and run of mine processing.
Rick Trotman, President and CEO of Barksdale, states, "The results of our PEA on San Javier outline a
very simple operation with compelling economics. This base-case provides the foundation from which
additional economic upside can be unlocked, such as the significant resource expansion opportunities
at the Cerro Verde orebody, exploration upside at Mesa Grande and La Trinidad, and additional
metallurgical testing to recover gold. In today's market it's rare to find a simple development project with
such low upfront capital costs."
PEA Summary
The PEA, led by Tetra Tech Canada, was initiated in early 2023 and is based on the mineral resource
estimate completed by Independent Mining Consultants Inc. in 2022. The PEA was completed in
accordance with NI 43-101 and represents a significant milestone in the advancement of the project. The
Company is currently earning a 100% interest in the San Javier project from Tusk Exploration Inc., a
private British Columbia company.
Project Overview
The San Javier project is accessible from Hermosillo by a well-maintained paved two-land highway near
the town of San Javier.
The project consists of multiple showings of surface copper outcrops including
the Cerro Verde resource area and the La Trinidad and Mesa Grande prospects.
The San Javier project will be a truck and shovel operation at the Cerro Verde resource area and will
operate at a processing rate of approximately 10,000 metric tons per day for a 13-year mine life.
Mined
material will be crushed and transported to a heap leach pad. Copper will be recovered via an SXEW
plant producing LME-grade copper cathodes on site.
Mineral Resource Estimate
The Mineral Resource Estimate for the San Javier project is based on a $4.00/lb copper price and the
sum of tonnage and grades within the pit shell utilize a cutoff grade for soluble copper (acid-soluble plus
cyanide-soluble copper), which varies depending on the oxidization type of each tonne of material. The
table below highlights the Cerro Verde resource at San Javier:
Figure 1.
San Javier Mineral Resource (Cerro Verde Deposit); effective date October 31, 2022
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Recovery Methods
The mineralized material from the Cerro Verde deposit will be crushed using a three-stage crushing and
screening system to produce a -12.5 mm material which will be stockpiled and then transported to a
lined heap leach pad. The material on the heap leach pad will be irrigated with a sulfuric acid solution to
extract soluble copper and the pregnant leach solution will be stored in a pond and pumped to a solvent
extraction circuit to purify and concentrate copper in a strong electrolyte solution. The electrolyte will be
fed to a semi-automatic electrowinning (EW) circuit to produce copper cathodes with a >99.99% purity.
The processing plant has been designed to process leach feed at a nominal throughput of 10,000 t/d to
produce market-grade copper cathodes at site. The average LOM leach feed grade will be 0.34% total
copper and the anticipated overall recovery will be 63.5% of total copper. The recovery estimate is
based on metallurgical column test work that showed recovery of soluble copper of 85% in the leach cap
and oxide zones, 75% in the mixed oxide/sulfide and 60% recovery in the sulfide zone.
Capital and Operating Costs
The estimated initial capital cost for the project's design, construction, installation, and commissioning is
$116.8 million. This figure includes all direct, indirect and owner's costs as well as a contingency factor.
The capital cost estimate is consistent with an Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering
(AACE) Class 5 estimate with an expected accuracy of plus/minus 35%. A summary breakdown of the
capital cost is provided in the table below.
Figure 2.
Capital cost summary
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Sustaining capital costs are all required from Year 1 of operations to sustain the mining and processing
operation for the life of mine and are estimated to be $17.22 million. The project operating cost estimate
consists of mining, processing and general and administrative (G&A) costs and are summarized in the
table below.
The average life-of-mine operating cost is $10.17/t material processed, or $2.16/lb copper
produced.
Figure 3.
Operating cost summary
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Financial Analysis
The project has been evaluated using a constant copper market price of US$4.00/lb. The base case
pre-tax cash flow highlights a net present value ("NPV") at a 7% discount rate of $111.8 million, an
internal rate of return ("IRR") of 26.3% and a 3.8 year payback period.
On an after tax basis, the project
an NPV of $61.6 million with an IRR of 18.1% with a payback period of 5.3 years. At a copper price of
US$4.50/lb, the Project post-tax NPV increases to $103.3 million after tax with an IRR of 24.8% and the
payback period is shortened to four years.
Figure 4.
Sensitivity analysis of post-tax economics based on various long-term copper prices
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Qualified Persons and Data Verification
Scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by
independent 'Qualified Persons' ("
QPs
") as defined under NI 43-101, including:
Hassan Ghaffari, P. Eng. M.A. Sc
Herbert E. Welhener, SME-RM, MMSA
Maureen Marks, P. Eng.
Jiahui Huang, P. Eng., PhD
The QPs responsible for the preparation of the PEA have verified the data disclosed in this news
release. The technical report in respect of the PEA, when filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+,
will contain more detailed information concerning individual responsibilities, associated quality
assurance and quality control, and other data verification matters, and the key assumptions, parameters
and methods used by the Company.
Barksdale Resources Corp.
, a 2023 OTCQX BEST 50 Company, is a base metal exploration
company headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., that is focused on the acquisition, exploration and
advancement of highly prospective base metal projects in North America. Barksdale is currently
advancing the Sunnyside copper-zinc-lead-silver and San Antonio copper projects, both of which are in
the Patagonia mining district of southern Arizona, as well as the San Javier copper-gold project in
central Sonora, Mexico.
ON BEHALF OF BARKSDALE RESOURCES CORP
Rick Trotman
President, CEO and Director
Terri Anne Welyki
Vice President of Communications
778-238-2333
For more information please phone 778-558-7145, email
or visit
www.BarksdaleResources.com
.
Neither 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.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements"
(collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Any statement that involves discussion with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs,
plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always using
phrases such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts",
"intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and
phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be
taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking
statements.
Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements
with respect to: (i) the results of the PEA; (ii) the economic potential and merits of the San Javier
project; (iii) the estimated amount and grade of Mineral Resources at the San Javier project; (iv) the
PEA representing a viable development option for the San Javier project; (v) estimates of capital and
operating costs; (viii) the estimated amount of future production from the San Javier project (ix) life of
mine estimates and economic returns from the San Javer project; (xi) project enhancement
opportunities; and (xii) timing of filing a technical report for the PEA on SEDAR+.
These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in
good faith and reflect the Company's current judgment regarding the direction of its business. The
assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are based on information currently available
to Barksdale. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon
what management of Barksdale believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions,
Barksdale cannot assure its shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-
looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated,
estimated or intended. Forward-looking information also involves known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements
expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: risks
related to interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project
parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on
acceptable terms, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required
approvals, taxes, mining title, the speculative nature of the Company's business; the Company's
formative stage of development; the Company's financial position; possible variations in
mineralization, grade or recovery rates; actual results of current exploration activities; fluctuations in
general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward
prices of copper and other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian
dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation,
taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated
with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards,
unusual or unexpected geological formations); the presence of laws and regulations that may impose
restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities; the
speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary
licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the
Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results
and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly,
readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
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