NGEx Reports Second Quarter 2018 Results

NGEx Resources (TSX:NGQ) has announced results for the company’s three and six months ended June 30, 2018.

The press release also highlights an increase in exploration expenses by 147 percent in the June quarter year-on-year, from C$864,000 in 2017 to C$2,140,000 in 2018.

As highlighted in the press release:

• On July 3, 2018, the company announced the start a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) on its Josemaría project in San Juan Province, Argentina to evaluate the potential to develop an open pit mine and adjacent processing plant to exploit the Josemaría deposit as a stand-alone project. The Josemaría PFS can be fast-tracked as a result of the extensive work that has already been completed for the project Constellation preliminary economic assessment and is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2019.

  Key qualities and strengths of the Josemaría project, as highlighted in the Constellation PEA, include:

  • A near surface supergene enrichment zone that contains an Indicated Resource of 150 million tonnes at 0.56 percent copper and 0.38 grams per tonnes gold for a copper equivalent grade of 0.76 percent (0.6 percent copper equivalent cut-off);
  • The potential to produce an annual average of 185,000 tonnes of copper, 345,000 ounces of gold and 1.2 million ounces of silver in the first 5 years of production;
  • Straightforward metallurgy producing a high-quality copper concentrate with high gold and silver content;
  • A low strip ratio;
  • Nearby water supply from aquifers in Argentina; and
  • A well defined permitting regime and strong support for mining development from the San Juan Provincial and National authorities in Argentina.
• There are a number of positive improvements expected from the Josemaría project since the completion of the Constellation PEA in 2016.
  • With full ownership of the Josemaría project following the company’s buyout of its Japanese partner’s interest in 2017, NGEx’s attributable share of the net present value of the PFS project increases from 60 percent to 100 percent.
  • The PFS will target mining more of the Josemaría deposit rather than the 37 percent contemplated by the Constellation PEA which focused on early feed to support the development of Los Helados.
  • The PFS economics are expected to benefit from the proposed decrease in the Argentine corporate tax rate from the 35 percent used in the Constellation PEA to 25 percent starting January 1, 2020.
• Copper-gold discovery at Nacimientos project – drill results from a three-hole scout program confirmed the presence of an extensive porphyry copper-gold system and a large epithermal system under younger cover rocks at the company’s newest exploration project, the Nacimientos project. These encouraging results will be used to guide further exploration later in the year.

Click here to read the full NGEx Resources (TSX:NCQ) press release.