Carangas PEA: $501M NPV, 26% IRR
Silvercorp Metals Inc.'s Carangas in Bolivia has a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) outlining an after-tax NPV of $501M, an after-tax IRR of 26%, and initial capital of $324M. The proposed mine plan runs 16 years.
Silvercorp Metals Inc.'s Carangas has reported Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) results for the silver project in Bolivia. The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $501M at a 5% discount rate. It reflects Silvercorp Metals Inc.'s (SVM.TO) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $501M using a 5% discount rate. After-tax IRR is 26%. Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $324M. All-in sustaining costs are pegged at 8 USD/oz. Economics are based on Ag $24/oz.
Production and mine plan. Life of mine is 16 years.
Resources and ownership. The company holds a 28% interest in the project.
These figures are extracted from Silvercorp Metals 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
The 26% after-tax IRR lands in the lower half of the 20 tracked silver projects and clears the practical financing hurdle for a single-asset junior, but not by a wide margin. The 5% discount rate is a low-end reporting convention that flatters the $501M NPV; a more typical rate would shrink that figure materially. The NPV sits at roughly 0.2x market cap—a gap that could signal the market has not priced the asset, or that investors are discounting financing, jurisdictional, or execution risk. The $324M initial capex, at 65% of NPV, is moderately capital-intensive but manageable relative to the project's scale; however, it is large versus the market cap, raising dilution risk for a developer.
The study's $24/oz silver price is less than half the current $65.50/oz spot, implying substantial upside to returns if that price holds. The single most important risk is whether the company can secure project financing without excessive dilution, given the capex-to-market-cap mismatch.
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.