Viva Gold Announces PEA Study Results for its Tonopah Gold Project, Nevada
NR 25-07
Viva Gold Announces PEA Study Results for its Tonopah Gold Project, Nevada
VANCOUVER, BC – July 7, 202 5 – Viva Gold Corp ( TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF ) (the
“Company” or “ Viva”) is pleased to announce the results of its updated Mineral Resource Estimate
(“MRE”) and Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for its 100%-owned Tonopah Gold P roject
(“Tonopah or Project”). Tonopah is located about 20 minutes’ drive from the town of Tonopah, Nevada .
The study was prepared by WSP Canada Inc. (“WSP”) of Calgary , Alberta and Kappes , Cassiday
Associates (“KCA”) of Reno, Nevada. All amounts shown in this news release are in United States Dollars
and metric units of measurement unless otherwise stated.
Tonopah Project PEA & MRE Highlights
• The updated MRE reports a measured and indicated (“M&I”) Mineral R esource containing
504,000 ounces gold (“Au”) at 0.59 grams per tonne (“g/t”) Au, 1.8 million ounces silver (“Ag”),
2.05 g/t Ag, and an inferred Mineral Resource of 83,000 ounces Au at 0.37 g/t Au, 402,000 ounces
Ag, at 1.81 g/t Ag, all constrained within a pit shell above a 0.15 g/t Au cut-off (see Table 1).
• Life of mine (“LOM”) PEA production of 23.5 million tonnes of Mineral Resource; consisting
of 4.5 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.75 g/t Au and 3.35 g/t Ag as mill circuit feed ; and
19.0 million tonnes at 0.37 g/t Au and 1.69 g/t Ag to the heap leach; at a strip ratio of 3.9 tonnes of
waste per tonne of mineralized material.
• Average mill circuit gold recoveries of 93% Au, 37% Ag, and heap leach Au recoveries of 75%
Au, 14% Ag, to produce a total of 404,000 ounces of payable Au and 354,000 ounces of Ag over
a seven-year mine life with an additional year of residual Au/Ag recovery from the heap leach.
• After-tax net present value (“NPV”) at a 5% discount rate (“NPV5%”) of $111.6 million at a gold
price of USD$2,400 per ounce ($27.70 Ag) increasing to $363.6 million at a gold price of $3,200
per ounce ($36.93 Ag).
• After-tax Internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 17.6% at a gold price of $2,400 per ounce increasing to
an IRR of 43.4% at a gold price of $3,200.
• After-tax payback period of 3.6 years from commencement of production at $2,400 per ounce Au,
decreasing to 1.8 years at an Au price of $3,200 ($36.93 Ag).
• Average production cash costs of $1,164 per ounce of Au and All-In Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) of
$1,269 per ounce Au.
• Pre-production capital expenditure of $ 219.9 million, $22.2 million in working capital, and
additional LOM sustaining capital of $ 70.4 million including purchase of mine fleet under
capitalized lease/purchase terms. New equipment pricing is assumed at this phase of work.
“This detailed PEA of the Tonopah Gold Project demonstrates significant leverage to the price of gold and
displays accretive potential value when compared to Viva ’s current market capitalization ”, states James
Hesketh, President & CEO. “The Tonopah gold project represents a unique opportunity to develop a gold
project in one of the best mi ning jurisdiction s in the world with excellent existing infrastructure and
proximity to surrounding producers and metallurgical facilities. This location reduces infrastructure capital
and can help to accelerate the permitting process. Opportunity may exist to defer or reduce initial capital
expense through toll processing /milling, purchased of used equipment, or through contract mining with
competitive bidding versus owner mining operations. We also believe that a unique permitting environment
exists in the US and Nevada and Viva intends to accelerate feasibility study on Tonopah which will allow
Viva to initiate the permitting process to take advantage of that window. In addition, while Viva’s focus is
on advancing its core gold resource through feasibility and permitting, we remain convinced that substantial
exploration potential remains in and around our project area, which we can demonstrate from existing drill
results”.
Project Description
Viva’s 100% owned Tonopah gold project sits in the middle of gold mining country about a half hour drive
south of the Round Mountain mine owned by Kinross Gold and controls a major land position on the prolific
Walker Lane Trend in Western Nevada. Viva has developed a high confidence level gold Mineral
Resource and can demonstrate the potential for an economically viable open pit, heap leach/mill gold
project through rigorous PEA study. The Project enjoys paved highway access, and proximity to Nevada
grid power, commercial water supply, and a vast local vendor network for sourcing required mining project
consumables and equipment.
Tonopah is a near surface, well oxidized, epithermal gold/silver deposit with gold mineralization occurring
in higher-grade veins and brecchias, all within a blanket of low -grade disseminated gold mineralization.
Drill results demonstrate the potential for additional exploration potential, while the core Mineral
Resource has been drilled to a high confidence level with approximately 87% of total contained gold
ounces in the M&I resource category. The Project is located on 508 unpatented federal lode claims.
The PEA study was developed using conventional open pit hard rock mining methods at a nominal rate of
approximately 45,000 tonnes per day (“TPD”) of material mined over a seven-year period. Pit slope angles
are based on geotechnical study completed for Viva in 2020. Mined gold mineralization is transported by
truck to either a high-grade (> 1.0 g/t) or low-grade stockpile. Barren waste rock would go to a waste rock
storage facility.
Process design was developed based on preliminary indicative metallurgical testwork. The process
considers crushing 10,000 TPD of mineralized run-of-mine material including 8,000 TPD of low-grade
and 2,000 TPD of high-grade material. Mineralized material will be crushed to 100% passing 12.5 mm
using a three-stage closed crushing circuit. High-grade and low-grade material will be campaigned through
the crushing circuit and stockpiled separately using a radial stacking conveyor. Low-grade material will be
agglomerated with cement, before being conveyor -stacked in 10m lifts onto a permanent geomembrane -
lined heap leach pad and leached with a dilute cyanide solution. Pregnant leach solutions will be pumped
to a carbon adsorption circuit. Gold will be collected onto activated carbon and then periodically transported
off-site to be toll-processed where the loaded carbon will be stripped and regenerated before being returned
to the Project for re-use.
High-grade mill feed ground to 80% passing 150 Mesh (106 micron) in a single stage ball mill circuit. Ball
mill discharge will be diverted to a Carbon-in-Leach (“CIL”) circuit where the thickened slurry will be
mixed with activated carbon with a portion of the flow being diverted to a gravity concentrator for the
recovery of coarse metal. Loaded carbon from the CIL will be toll -processed along with carbon from the
heap leach circuit. Leached slurry will be discharged and filtered using a filter press, and dry-stacked using
trucks onto a dedicated portion of the heap leach pad.
The Tonopah open pit will extend below the existing water table. As a result, a pit de -watering system is
required to de-water ahead of mining advance. A conceptual dewatering system design for the Project was
developed by Piteau Associates of Reno, Nevada, Viva’s long term hydrologic consultant, dated June 20,
2025.
Existing project infrastructure includes paved State highway access, nearby 15 KV grid powerline
upgradable to 25 KV, newly constructed cell and data communications tower , and nearby public utility
water supply. The project has a total of 26 existing groundwater monitoring wells. Additional infrastructure
will include fencing and gat es, weigh scale, office buildings, repair shops, assay laboratory, fencing and
gates, water supply system, power substation and overhead distribution lines.
Mineral Resource
The 2025 MRE incorporates data from 59 new drill holes completed since 2022, as well as a new structural
model based on drilling and Controlled Source Audio -frequency Magnetotellurics (CSAMT) data. The
updated resource model has resulted in an increase in the indicated resource, demonstrating enhanced
confidence in the geologic interpretation.
Table 1: Summary of Estimated Mineral Resources – Effective Date: June 13, 2025
Classification Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Tonnes
(Kt)
Contained
Gold (oz/t)
Contained
Silver (oz/t)
Measured 1.41 3.11 1,690 77,000 169,000
Indicated 0.53 1.98 25,000 427,000 1,593,000
Measured + Indicated 0.59 2.05 26,690 504,000 1,762,000
Inferred 0.37 1.81 6,905 83,000 402,000
Total 0.54 2.00 33,560 587,000 2,164,000
Notes:
1. The MRE for the potentially surface mineable resource were constrained by conceptual pit shells for the purpose of establishing
reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction based on potential mining, metallurgical and processing grade parameters
identified by studies performed to date on the Project.
2. Key constraint inputs included reasonable assumptions for operating costs, geotechnical slope parameters, forecast Au prices, and a
minimum Cut-off Grade of 0.15 g/t Au.
3. The Cut-off Grade assumes a gold price of US$2,200 and a revenue factor of 1.2 (equivalent to US$2,640 gold price), and includes all
material that can be economically processed
4. Heap leach recovery of 75% was assumed.
5. Tonnage and contained metal estimates are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
6. kt = kilotonnes; g/t = grams per tonne; oz/t = troy ounces per tonne.
7. Mineral Resource categorization of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources presented in the summary table is in accordance
with the CIM definition standards (CIMDS, 2014).
8. No mining recovery, dilution or other similar mining parameters have been applied.
9. Although the Mineral Resources presented in this press release are believed to have a reasonable expectation of being extract ed
economically, they are not Mineral Reserves. Estimation of Mineral Reserves requires the application of modifying factors and a
minimum of a PFS.
10. The reported Inferred Mineral Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations appli ed to
them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves.
11. There is no certainty that all or any part of this Mineral Resource will be converted into Mineral Reserve.
12. Mineral Resource estimates are not precise calculations, being dependent on the interpretation of limited information on the location,
shape and continuity of the occurrence and on the available sampling results. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of
the estimates.
The Mineral Resource categorization applied by the Qualified Person (“QP”) has included the consideration
of data reliability, spatial distribution and abundance of data and continuity of geology and grade
parameters. The QP performed a statistical and geostatistical analysis for evaluating the confidence of
continuity of the ge ological units and grade parameters. The results of this analysis were applied to
developing the Mineral Resource categorization criteria.
The updated MRE reports 504,000 ounces of measured and indicated gold resources at 0.59 g/t Au,
constrained within a pit shell above a 0.15 g/t Au cut-off (see Table 1). Compared to the 2022 PEA, this is
an increase of 109,000 ounces of measured and indicated Mineral Resources, and a reduction of 123,000
ounces of inferred Mineral Resources. Additional drilling reduced drill hole spacing and revealed new
high-grade zones as well as non-mineralized areas. The introduction of a structural interpretation served to
constrain the estimate to additional hard-boundary domains. For the first time, 2,164,000 ounces of silver
at 2.0 g/t are reported.
Au and Ag were estimated into a 3D block model using ordinary kriging interpolation. The block size in
the area of the reported resources is 6 m x 6 m x 6 m. Estimation was constrained by hard boundary domains
based on rock type and fault boundaries.
Primary differences between the 2022 resource block model and the 2025 resource block model include a
reduction in block size from 20 m to 6 m, a change in the Au top-cut grade parameters (increased from 10
g/t to 100 g/t and using a high -grade search restriction), and a change to the resource classification
methodology.
At present, only Mineral Resources have been estimated and there are no Mineral Reserves for the Project.
The Mineral Resource estimates for the potentially surface mineable resources at Tonopah were constrained
by conceptual resource pit shells for the purpose of establishing reasonable prospects of eventual economic
extraction based on potential mining, meta llurgical recovery and processing parameters identified by
mining, metallurgical, and processing studies performed to date on the Project.
Key constraint inputs included reasonable assumptions for operating costs, geotechnical slope parameters,
Au forecast prices, as summarized in Table 2, resulting in a minimum Cut -off Grade (“COG”) of 0.15 g/t
Au. The COG assumes a gold price of US$2,200 and a revenue factor (“RF”) of 1.2 (equivalent to US$2,640
gold price) and includes all material that can be economically processed.
Table 2: Break-Even Cut-off Grade for Mineral Resources
Parameter Unit Value
Processing Costs (incl. Sustaining Capex) + G&A $/t 7.12
Processing Recovery % 75.0%
Refining Recovery/Payable % 99.9%
Royalty % NSR 1.0%
Refining Cost/Selling Cost $/oz Au 2
Resource Gold Price at RF $/oz Au 2,640
Cut-off grade g/t Au 0.15
GEOVIA Whittle™ (“Whittle”) Pit Optimizer software was used to develop the resource pit shell. Whittle
was used with the input parameters presented in Table 3 to provide guidance for establishing reasonable
prospects of eventual economic extraction.
Table 3: Resource Pit Shell Input Parameters
Mining Parameter Unit Value
Waste Mining Cost1 $/t 1.90
Mineral Mining Cost1 $/t 1.90
Overburden Mining Cost1 $/t 1.60
Mining Sustaining Capital Cost2 $/t 0.24
Mining Recovery3 % 100
Mining Dilution3 % 0
Processing Parameter Unit Value
Mill Recovery % 92.5
Heap Leach Recovery % 75
Mill COG g/t 1.0
Heap Leach COG - breakeven
Mill Processing Cost + G&A $/t 17.50
Mill Processing Sustaining Capital Cost4 $/t 0.11
Heap Leach Processing Cost + G&A $/t 8.70
Heap Leach Processing Sustaining Capital Cost5 $/t 0.62
Selling Parameter Unit Value
Gold Price $/oz 2,640
Gold Royalty % 1.0
Selling Cost $/oz 2.00
Gold Payable % 99.9
Notes:
1. The mineral and waste mining cost were based on escalated mining cost from similar projects in Nevada and nearby
states escalated to Q2 2025 US$ value. The overburden mining cost is the cost of free digging the overburden, without
drilling and blasting.
2. Mining sustaining capital cost of 0.24 $/t was calculated based on the escalated April 2020 PEA cost estimate to Q2 2025
US$ value and was included in the pit optimization to the mining cost.
3. The block model described included dilution or mining recovery. Viva recommended to use 100% mining recovery and
0% dilution, and it is the QP’s opinion that this logic is reasonable for a PEA-level study.
4. Mill processing sustaining capital cost of 0.11 $/t was obtained from the April 2020 PEA cost estimate and escalated to
Q2 2025 US$ value.
5. Heap leach processing sustaining capital cost of 0.62 $/t was obtained from industry benchmarking, and both were
included in the pit optimization to the processing cost for all scenarios.
PEA Mine Plan and Production Details
Tonopah will have a seven-year mine life with eight years of gold recovery. Closure and reclamation
activities are expected to commence at the cessation of mining and last for a period of three years utilizing
exiting mine equipment and personnel. Please note that a Preliminary Economic Assessment is preliminary
in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have
the economic consideration applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves,
and that there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
Table 4: Annual Detail of Tonopah PEA Production Schedule
PEA Study Economic Analysis
The PEA economic analysis is b ased on the estimated production schedule, capital costs , and operating
costs, and cash flow model prepared by WSP. All information used in this economic evaluation was derived
from work completed by WSP and KCA, with support from Viva Gold.
Year 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 Total
Mill Tonnes (1,000) 730 730 730 730 612 307 679 4,518
Heap Leach Tonnes (1,000) 2,914 2,856 2,920 2,920 2,920 1,853 2,664 19,046
Waste Tonnes (1,000) 18,350 18,650 12,000 12,000 11,350 13,500 5,714 91,564
Total Tonnes Mined (1,000) 21,994 22,236 15,650 15,650 14,882 15,659 9,058 115,129
Strip Ratio 5.0 5.2 3.3 3.3 3.2 6.3 1.7 3.9
Mill Grade - Au 2.56 2.18 1.41 1.60 1.39 1.22 1.48 1.75
Heap Leach Grade - Au 0.37 0.40 0.36 0.35 0.38 0.36 0.37 0.37
Mill Grade - Ag 5.39 3.30 2.29 3.08 2.73 2.39 3.62 3.35
Heap Leach Grade - Ag 1.68 1.98 1.67 1.43 1.63 1.61 1.79 1.69
Contained Gold Oz 95,088 87,647 67,256 70,276 62,664 33,488 64,501 480,919
Contained Silver Oz 284,118 259,447 210,455 206,310 206,516 119,395 232,260 1,518,501
Mill Recovered Gold Oz 55,320 47,532 30,412 34,466 25,311 11,151 29,973 234,165
Mill Recovered Silver Oz 46,997 28,574 20,050 27,031 19,865 8,715 29,281 180,513
Heap Leach Rec Gold Oz 22,845 27,174 25,856 24,613 26,256 17,433 23,026 3,128 170,331
Heap Leach Rec Silver Oz 23,074 29,601 30,239 23,517 24,695 17,342 28,732 3,979 181,178
Total Gold Oz 78,164 74,706 56,268 59,079 51,567 28,584 52,999 3,128 404,496
Total Silver Oz 70,071 58,175 50,289 50,548 44,560 26,057 58,012 3,979 361,691
Payable Gold Oz 78,086 74,631 56,211 59,020 51,515 28,555 52,946 3,125 404,091
Payable Silver Oz 68,670 57,012 49,283 49,537 43,669 25,536 56,852 3,899 354,457
Project economics were evaluated using a discounted cash flow method that measures the before -tax and
after-tax NPV of future cash flow streams. The PEA economic model was based on the following key
assumptions:
• A gold price of $2,400 per ounce.
• Mine production schedule developed by WSP with a nominal average mining rate of 45,000
TPD with higher levels in the first two years and a mill and heap leach process rate totaling
10,000 TPD of mineralized material.
• A period of analysis of eleven years that includes one year of investment, 8 years of
production, and three years to complete reclamation and closure commencing after cessation
of mining activities.
• Capital costs as summarized in Table 9 and operating costs as summarized in Table 7 and
described in the following sections.
Project economics are based on criteria from the cash flow model that are summarized in Table 5.
Table 5: Economic Analysis Summary
Financial parameters Results
Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Pre-Tax 20.6%
Internal Rate of Return (IRR), After-Tax 17.6%
Average Annual Cash Flow in Production (Pre-Tax) $56.8 million
NPV 5% (Pre-Tax) $138.6 million
Average Annual Cash Flow in Production (After-Tax) $52.8 million
NPV 5% (After-Tax) $111.6 Million
Gold Price Assumption $2,400/Ounce Au
All-In sustaining Cost $1,164
Cash Cost of Production $1,269
Economic Sensitivity Analysis
At a current market price level of approximately $3,200 per ounce Au, a 33.3% increase over the base price
of $2,400, Tonopah return s a post -tax NPV 5% of $3 63.6 million and an IRR of 43.4%, demonstrating
strong leverage to gold price.
Project sensitivity to Au/Ag price, operating and capital costs are shown in the following Figure 1:
Figure 1: Project Sensitivity to Changes in Price, Capital and Operating Cost
Table 6: Project Sensitivity to Gold Price
Sensitivity to Gold Price Gold Price NPV 5% (xUSD 1,000)
80% 1,920 (38,425)
90% 2,160 36,738
100% 2,400 111,617
110% 2,640 186,451
120% 2,880 261,286
130% 3,120 336,120
140% 3,360 410,955
$(300,000)
$(200,000)
$(100,000)
$-
$100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000
-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
NPV x 1,000
% Parameter variation from base gold price of $2,400
Operating Cost Capital Cost Metal Prices
Operating Costs
Table 7: Unit Operating Cost Breakdown
AREA UNITS COST
Mine $/tonne Material 1.95
CIL Mill $/tonne Milled 16.43
Heap Leach $/tonne Leach 6.62
Water Systems Annual Variable $670K to $1.2K
Gen & Admin Annual $4.4 million
Mine operating costs are based on self-mining, non-contractor rates. Mine operating costs and equipment
productivity rates were estimated from first principals by WSP using equipment productivity handbooks,
reference guides and databased information. The mine is anticipated to operate 365 days per year utilizing
two twelve-hour shift per day , with a total of four operating crews working on a four -day rotational
schedule.
Process costing is based on the processing design criteria shown in Table 8.
Table 8: Processing Design Criteria Summary
Item Design Criteria
Annual Tonnage Processed 3,650,000 tonnes
Production Rate
Crushing Rate 10,000 tonnes/day, 365 days/year
CIL Milling Rate 2,000 tonnes/day, 365 days/year
Leach Pad Stacking Rate 8,000 tonnes/day, 365 days/year
Recovery
High-grade Mill Au Recovery, Average 93%
Low-grade Heap Leach Au Recovery, Average 75%
Operation 12 hours/shift, 2 shifts/day, 7days/week,
365 days/year
Leach Cycle 120 days
Reagents
High-grade Mill NaCN Consumption, kg/t 0.58
Low-grade Heap Leach NaCN Consumption, kg/t 0.26
High-grade Mill CaO Addition, kg/t 0.60
Low-grade Heap Leach Cement Addition, kg/t 4.0
Plant and general and administrative (“G&A”) operating costs were estimated by KCA using first principals
based on the second quarter 2025 US dollars and are presented with no added contingency based upon the
design and operating criteria present in this release and are considered to have an accuracy of +/-35%. Sales
tax was not included in the operating cost estimate. G&A costs include annual premiums for reclamation
surety bonds. Water system costs were estimated by Piteau Associates of Reno Nevada and are estimated
to have an accuracy of +50%/-25%.