In a press release, the miner said that the report supports the positive results from the preliminary economic assessment of South West and the deposit’s robust project economics including an NPV5% of C$236 million and IRR of 30% at US$ 1,500-ounce gold.

“The PEA study assumed underground extraction at only our South West deposit and has shown the potential to produce up to 85,700 ounces per annum at a cash cost of US$590 per ounce, with a low initial capital of C$144 million repaid over 3.4 years with an annual after-tax cash flow of C$49 million,” Moneta’s CEO, Gary O’Connor, said in the media brief. “We are now focusing on expanding the adjacent deposits and discovering new zones of gold mineralization with the start of our new 20,000-metre drill program designed to continue to add value to the Golden Highway project with a growing resource base.”

According to O’Connor, the company is also working on updating the resource estimates for Windjammer South, 55 and New Westway, another three of the six deposits within the project.

Located in the Timmins Camp, the 200-square-kilometre Golden Highway property covers 12 kilometres of a volcanic/sedimentary belt and hosts a gold NI 43-101 Resource Estimate of 556,500 ounces indicated (3.8Mt at 4.53 g/t Au) plus 1,174,000 ounces inferred (8.5 Mt at 4.31 g/t Au).

According to Moneta, indicated resources increased by 58% in 2019 and inferred resources increased by 40% during the same period.