Bravada Files Technical Report For Wind Mountain

 

VANCOUVER, BC - Bravada Gold Corporation reported that it has filed the Technical Report for the updated, independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and resource estimate for its Wind Mountain Gold/Silver Property in Washoe County, Nevada. The studies were conducted by Mine Development Associates (MDA) of Reno. The base-case Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is nearly double the 2010 base-case IRR, and the number of ounces produced from near-surface oxide mineralization has increased significantly. The PEA considers only a portion of the property and new resources contained within the North Hill deposit and the South End deposit, and previously mined "waste rock" were not included in the PEA. In addition, the company has identified large areas on the property where significant new resources could be discovered.

The past-producing Wind Mountain gold/silver project is located approximately 160km northeast of Reno, Nevada in a sparsely populated region with excellent logistics, including county-maintained road access and a power line to the property. A previous owner, AMAX Gold recovered nearly 300,000 ounces of gold and over 1,700,000 ounces of silver between 1989 and 1999 from two small open pits and a heap-leach operation (based on files obtained from Kinross Gold, successor in interest to AMAX Gold). Rio Fortuna Exploration (U.S.) Inc., a wholly owned US subsidiary of Bravada Gold Corporation, acquired 100% of the property through an earn-in agreement with Agnico-Eagle (USA) Limited, a subsidiary of Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited, which retains a 2% NSR royalty interest, of which 1% may be purchased for $1,000,000 at any time prior to commencement of production. The PEA assumes open-pit, contract mining with conventional trucks and shovels, run-of-mine leaching, and a base-case price of US$1,300 per ounce of gold and $24.42 per ounce of silver.

Resource inside the pits = 42.1 million short tons of Indicated Resource @ 0.011 oz Au/t & 0.26 oz Ag/t, and 2.2 million short tons of Inferred Resource @ 0.008 oz Au/t & 0.18 oz Ag/t, both utilizing a 0.006 oz Au/t cutoff; Gold & Silver Ounces mined = 465,000 oz Au & 11,198,000 oz Ag (516,000 oz Au-eq(2)); Gold & Silver Ounces produced = 288,000 oz Au & 1,680,000 oz Ag (320,000 oz Au-eq(2))

Waste: Ore Strip ratio = 0.71:1; Capital = Initial capital of $45.4 million with $18.4 million sustaining capital; Mine Life = approximately 7 years of mining with 2 additional years of residual leaching & rinsing; Payback Period = 2.2 years; Life-of-mine cash cost(3) = $859 per ounce Au; Total Pre-Tax cost(3) = $1,080 per ounce Au; IRR = 29%; Pre-tax NVP@5% = $42.9 million.

Sensitivity studies by MDA indicate that gold and silver prices 30% higher in the same modeled pit and at the same recovery rates ($1,690/oz Au and $31.75/oz Ag) would increase the IRR to 74% and the NPV@5% to $136.2 million. Gold and silver prices that are 20% lower ($1,040/oz Au and $19.54/oz Ag) would result in the model being uneconomic at an NPV@5%. Sensitivities of the model to capital and operating costs are also provided. MDA notes that additional studies such as additional metallurgical studies to evaluate crushing higher-grade portions of the deposit and grid drilling to delineate economic portions of the previously mined "waste rock", which are given no value in the current model, could further enhance the economics of known mineralization. Approximately 43% of the pre-mining strip in the PEA model consists of "waste rock", and MDA is optimistic that with further drilling and sampling a portion of this material's grade and tons could be quantified for economic evaluation.

The company's address is Suite 1100, 1199 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3T5.