PROJECT UPDATE: Northern Vertex PEA Has 15-Month Payback

Northern Vertex (TSXV:NEE), a Vancouver-based company exploring for gold and silver in Arizona, has demonstrated positive economics for its Moss Mine project, located in Mohave County.

The Moss Mine shows a net present value of $110 million based on a 5-percent discount rate, and would yield investors a 117.9-percent (pre-tax) internal rate of return on a quick payback of 15 months, according to its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released Thursday. The numbers are based on a gold price of $1,500/oz and cash costs of $490/oz.

The open-pit, heap leach operation would yield 42,000 gold-equivalent ounces per year, for a minelife of five years.

The company plans to move the project forward from conceptual design and lab work to pilot plant testing.

“The results from this Preliminary Economic Assessment are positive and show the potential economics associated with the Moss Mine Gold-Silver Project. A Pilot Plant operations phase (Phase I) is recommended by the Technical Report and will precede operations (Phase II),” said Northern Vertex President and CEO Dick Whittington, adding: “If the Pilot Plant is successful and lab metallurgy is proven in the field, we can assess the feasibility of moving forward with operations subject to required financing.”

Northern Vertex has an earn-in agreement on the property with Patriot Gold (OTC Pink:PGOL) allowing the company to earn a 70-percent interest in the project by spending $8 million on exploration and preparing a feasibility study.

According to the resource estimated contained in the PEA, the mine contains 537,000 ounces of gold and 5.83 million ounces of silver, in the measured and indicated category. The PEA recommends a 2,200-meter drill program to further delineate the mineralization, which is open at depth and to the west. Total cost of the drill program is pegged at $562,000.

Securities Disclosure: I, Andrew Topf, do not hold equity interests in any of the companies mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: Northern Vertex is a client of Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.