Vizsla sees 7-month payback for Panuco silver-gold project

Vizsla Silver (TSX, NYSE: VZLA) said a new study shows the company would need less than a year to recoup its investment if it proceeds with the flagship Panuco silver-gold project in Mexico.Based on a 5% discount rate, Panuco now has an after-tax net present value of $1.8 billion, an internal rate of return of 111% and a payback period of seven months, Vancouver-based Vizsla said Wednesday in a statement, citing the conclusions of a new feasibility study. The financial metrics, which assume $3,100-per-oz. gold and $35.50-per-oz. silver, exceed those from July 2024’s preliminary economic assessment.Wednesday’s study “represents a key inflection point for the company, the Panuco asset and all of our stakeholders as we advance towards production,” CEO Michael Konnert said in the statement. “Panuco can become the next large-scale silver-primary producer in Mexico.”2027 targetWith permitting and project financing efforts advancing, Vizsla is targeting a construction decision as soon as it has received the required approvals. The company wants production to start in the second half of 2027.Located in southern Sinaloa, near the city of Mazatlán, Panuco hosts the world’s largest undeveloped, high‑grade silver resource. It holds 12.8 million proven and probable tonnes grading 2.01 grams gold per tonne and 249 grams silver for contained metal of 829,000 oz. gold and 102.7 million oz. silver.Vizsla shares jumped 12% to C$6.57 Wednesday morning in Toronto, giving the company a market value of about C$2.3 billion ($1.6 billion).Panuco is now expected to produce 17.4 million silver-equivalent oz. a year over the life of the project at an all-in sustaining cost of $10.61 per silver-equivalent ounce. This includes more than 20 million silver-equivalent oz. annually during the underground mine’s first five years.Shorter lifeVizsla is projecting a mine life of 9.4 years, 11% less than the PEA’s 10.6-year estimate.Last year’s PEA outlined annual output of 15.2 million silver-equivalent oz., giving Panuco a net present value of $1.14 billion. It used $1,975-per-oz.-gold and $26-per-oz.-silver to achieve an 86% internal rate of return, a nine‑month payback and a capex ratio of 5.1 to 1.Pre-production capital expenditures are pegged at $238.7 million. That’s up from the PEA’s $224 million estimate.Low capexThe new study “confirms (the) continued low capex intensity, high-grade, front-end loaded mine plan preserving key elements of Panuco thesis,” National Bank Financial mining analyst Don DeMarco said in a note to clients.Reserves at Panuco extend from surface to depths of more than 600 metres, Vizsla says. The deposits range in thickness from 1.5 metres to greater than 20 metres.Under the new scenario, crews will build two contiguous underground mines, Copala and Napoleon, with on-site treatment of the mined material. The mines will be contractor-operated, utilizing ramp-access and a combination of long-hole stoping and drift-and-fill mining methods.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com