Fury Gold Mines (TSX and NYSE American: FURY) announced results from a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the high-grade Eau Claire deposit located in the Eeyou Istchee Territory of the James Bay region of Quebec. The PEA represents an initial conceptual evaluation of the economic potential of Eau Claire’s mineral resources. SGS Geological Services prepared the report.
Three scenarios, all based on the same mine plan, were evaluated, each returning an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate (NPV5) and after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) at a gold price of US$2,400 per ounce.
The full standalone operation, with all processing on site (the Base Case), has an after-tax NPV5 of $554 million and an IRR of 41%. The hybrid case, which starts with two years of toll milling followed by full on-site crushing, milling, and processing, shows an after-tax NPV5 of $610 million and a 53% IRR. The full toll milling scenario, processing mineralized material off-site at a third-party facility, has an after-tax NPV5 of $639 million and an IRR of 84%.
Total recovered gold production amounts to 834,000 ounces, with an average diluted head grade of 4.46 g/t gold. The project projects an average annual production of approximately 76,000 ounces over an 11-year life of mine (LOM), with all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of $1,140/oz for the Base Case, $1,153/oz for the Hybrid Case, and $1,170/oz for the Toll Milling Case.
Initial capital expenditures range from $117 million in the Toll Milling Case to $217 million in the Base Case. The project offers a rapid after-tax payback period of 2.5 years for the Toll Milling Case, 1.5 years for the Hybrid Case, and 1.1 years for the Base Case. Additionally, 76% of the ounces within the PEA mine plan currently fall into the Measured and Indicated resource categories, providing a timely pathway to a pre-feasibility study (PFS) with minimal conversion drilling required.
Tim Clark, CEO of Fury, commented: “The Eau Claire PEA scenarios each demonstrate an exceptional internal rate of return and net present value. The results validate our belief that the market has significantly undervalued the project within Fury’s broader asset portfolio. With strong infrastructure in place, including access to hydro power and roads, combined with favourable metallurgy, Eau Claire stands out as a highly attractive development opportunity with substantial exploration upside, presently hosting a combined Eau Claire and Percival resource of 6.39 Mt at 5.64 g/t gold containing 1.16Moz gold Measured and Indicated plus 5.45 Mt at 4.13 g/t gold containing 723koz gold Inferred.”
The PEA is based on the current mineral resource estimate for Eau Claire with an effective date of May 10, 2024, and is reported using a gold price of US$1,900/oz.
Bryan Atkinson, senior vice president of exploration at Fury, said: “When Fury acquired the Eau Claire project in October 2020, we saw a clear pathway for the existing deposit to grow significantly and the potential to define additional deposits within the project area through systematic, disciplined exploration. The steepening of the vein model in the eastern portion of the Eau Claire deposit has opened additional targets throughout the resource area itself and bodes well for the next stage of the project. This PEA will act as a road map for further growth and derisking of not only the Eau Claire Deposit itself, but the entire 55,000-hectare land package,”
Fury will focus on resource expansion at Eau Claire. The company aims to improve the continuity of resource ounces outside the PEA mineable portion and to further refine vein geometries to enhance the project’s economics. Additionally, Fury will continue to advance the Eau Claire deposit by conducting environmental baseline studies, tailings, metallurgical, and geotechnical test work as directed by COMEV.
For more information, visit www.FuryGoldMines.com.
