Blackwater (Expanded Phase 2 - EP2) Production Update: C$1.44B Capex
Artemis Gold Inc.'s Blackwater (Expanded Phase 2 - EP2) in British Columbia, Canada has a production guidance outlining initial capital of C$1.44B.
Artemis Gold Inc.'s Blackwater (Expanded Phase 2 - EP2) has reported production guidance results for the gold project in British Columbia, Canada. It reflects Artemis Gold Inc.'s (ARTG.V) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. Initial capital expenditure is estimated at C$1.44B. Economics are based on Reserve pit shell based on US$1,400/oz gold price; resource pit shell at US$2,000/oz gold price.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open-pit operation. Average annual production is approximately 500 koz Au. Metallurgical recovery averages 92.2%. The open-pit strip ratio is 2:1 over life of mine.
Resources and ownership. The company holds a 100% interest in the project.
These figures are extracted from Artemis Gold Inc.'s technical disclosures and reflect the most recent Production Update 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.
Reserves & Resources
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral Reserve | 331.9 Mt | 0.77 g/t AuEq | 8.2 Moz AuEq |
| Category | Tonnage | Grade | Contained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured | 40 Mt | 0.60 g/t AuEq | 0.76 Moz AuEq |
| Indicated | 116 Mt | 0.66 g/t AuEq | 2.45 Moz AuEq |
| Measured & Indicated | 156 Mt | 0.64 g/t AuEq | 3.21 Moz AuEq |
Our Analysis
- Initial capex
- C$1.44B
costlier than 93% of 163 projects we track
- Study price assumption
- Reserve pit shell based on US$1,400/oz gold price; resource pit shell at US$2,000/oz gold price
- Spot gold today
- $4,312.40/oz
Among the 163 gold projects we track, this one barely registers on capital intensity: initial capex of C$1.44B sits below 7% of that peer set. That is the useful frame. The build is not a bet-the-company number, it is roughly 0.2x a US$6.79B mid-cap, and it belongs to a company already running four projects in our coverage. For an investor, the practical consequence is that financing this mine does not require the kind of equity raise that rewrites the share register. The constraint here is not whether the money can be found, it is whether the numbers behind the plan hold up.
That is where the study stage matters. These are operating-mine figures, not a forward feasibility study, so the reserve and resource pit shells rest on US$1,400/oz and US$2,000/oz gold respectively. Against a live spot of $4,312.40/oz, both assumptions sit well below the current market, which cuts in the project's favour on the revenue line but also means the headline economics were never stress-tested at anything like today's price. Read the returns as a floor set in a softer price environment rather than a forecast of what the mine earns now.
British Columbia is the other thing to weigh. It is a developed, mining-literate jurisdiction, which supports permitting and operating continuity, but it is not a low-friction one, and timelines there are rarely quick. So the rank against peers is real and the funding risk is genuinely modest, yet neither tells you what the asset is worth at spot. The question that decides this one: does the operation deliver at the reserve price it was built around, or does the gap to spot quietly become the whole investment case?
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.