Surge Battery Metals NNLP Lithium Project PFS: $9.81B NPV, 23.6% IRR
Peloton Minerals Corp.'s Surge Battery Metals NNLP Lithium Project in Nevada, USA has a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) outlining an after-tax NPV of $9.81B, an after-tax IRR of 23.6%, and initial capital of $2.77B. The mine plan runs 42 years at about 92250 t LCE/year per year.
Peloton Minerals Corp.'s Surge Battery Metals NNLP Lithium Project has reported Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) results for the lithium project in Nevada, USA. The study headlines an after-tax net present value of $9.81B at a 8% discount rate. It reflects Peloton Minerals Corp.'s (PMC.CN) latest disclosed economics for the asset.
Economics. The after-tax NPV is $9.81B using a 8% discount rate. After-tax IRR is 23.6%. Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $2.77B. The study models a payback period of 4.2 years. All-in sustaining costs are pegged at 4719 USD/t LCE. Economics are based on LCE price forecast US$24,000 per tonne.
Production and mine plan. The project envisions an open pit operation. Life of mine is 42 years. Average annual production is approximately 92250 t LCE/year. Average head grade is 3,007 ppm Li. Metallurgical recovery averages 84.9%.
These figures are extracted from Peloton Minerals Corp.'s technical disclosures and reflect the most recent PFS 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measured & Indicated | — | 3,007 ppm Li | 10.51 Mt LCE |
Our Analysis
- IRR after-tax
- 23.6%
higher than 32% of 19 projects we track
- NPV after-tax
- $9.81B
higher than 100% of 22 projects we track
- Initial capex
- $2.77B
28% of NPV
costlier than 100% of 21 projects we track
- Payback
- 4.2yrs
slower than 77% of 13 projects we track
- Mine life
- 42yrs
- Discount rate
- 8%
- Study price assumption
- LCE price forecast US$24,000 per tonne
A US$2.77B build against a US$10M market cap is the whole story here. The capex is roughly 281 times the company's entire equity value, and this is the only project in its portfolio, so there is no cash-generating asset to lean on and no realistic path to funding this from the balance sheet. Whoever writes that cheque, whether a strategic partner, a streaming or offtake arrangement, a government-linked lender, or a full re-rating of the equity, will extract a price. For existing holders the question is not whether the project is good but how much of it they still own once it is built.
The economics themselves are not the constraint. An after-tax NPV of US$9.81B sits above every one of the 22 lithium projects we track, and the 23.6% after-tax IRR clears the roughly 15% hurdle developers typically need, and the 20%-plus that a junior with little else in the portfolio should be held to. But that IRR ranks in the lower half of the 19 lithium projects we track, and payback of 4.2 years is slower than most peers. A long-life, capital-hungry asset: 42 years of mine life means the returns arrive slowly, which is exactly the profile that makes a single-asset nano-cap hard to finance.
Two caveats sit underneath. This is a pre-feasibility study, so the estimate carries roughly a plus or minus 25% band and is not yet a build decision; at this capex, a cost overrun is not a rounding error. And the returns rest on a US$24,000 per tonne LCE assumption, which is a sensitivity rather than a certainty: the NPV and IRR move with it, and the financing case has to hold across a range of outcomes, not just the study's. The 8% discount rate is a reporting convention, not a hurdle, and tells you nothing here.
The deciding question: can this company fund US$2.77B without handing away the project?
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.