Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project PEA: $42M NPV, 17% IRR
Rua Gold Inc.'s Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project in New Zealand (Reefton Goldfield) has a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) outlining a pre-tax NPV of $42M, a pre-tax IRR of 17%, and initial capital of $226M.
Rua Gold Inc.'s Auld Creek Gold-Antimony Project has reported Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) results for the gold, antimony project in New Zealand (Reefton Goldfield). The study headlines a pre-tax net present value of $42M at a 5% discount rate. It reflects Rua Gold Inc.'s (RUA.V) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The pre-tax NPV is $42M using a 5% discount rate. Pre-tax IRR is 17%. Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $226M, with life-of-mine sustaining capital of $64M. The study models a payback period of 3.33 years. All-in sustaining costs are pegged at 1835 USD/oz. Economics are based on USD 3,300/oz Au, USD 27,000/t Sb.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an underground operation. Average head grade is 3.36 g/t AuEq.
Resources and ownership. Mineral resources: Indicated: 0.28 Mt @ 2.5 g/t Au, 1.0% Sb (23 koz Au, 3 kt Sb); Inferred: 0.98 Mt @ 1.9 g/t Au, 0.7% Sb (59 koz Au, 7 kt Sb) — Final MSO Set, cut-off 1.5 g/t AuEq.
These figures are extracted from Rua Gold Inc.'s technical disclosures and reflect the most recent PEA on file. Compare this project against other developers and producers in our project economics database, and always verify the numbers against the original technical report before making any investment decision.
Our Analysis
- IRR pre-tax
- 17%
higher than 9% of 289 projects we track
- NPV pre-tax
- $42M
- Initial capex
- $226M
539% of NPV
- Payback
- 3.3yrs
- Discount rate
- 5%
- Study price assumption
- USD 3,300/oz Au, USD 27,000/t Sb
At 17% pre-tax IRR, the project ranks in the bottom quartile of the 289 all commodities projects we track, and clears the ~15% after-tax return developers typically need to finance a build. The study discounts at 5%, the low end of the reporting convention, which flatters the headline NPV. Initial capital runs to about 539% of project NPV, making it capital-intensive; funding that build is the central execution risk. A modelled payback of 3.3 years is moderate for a project of this type.
Our take, benchmarked against the project economics in the Mining Stocks database. Figures are estimates drawn from company technical reports — not investment advice; always verify against the source filing.