Tinka Unveils 21-Year Mine Life for Ayawilca Zinc Project

Tinka Resources (TSXV:TK,OTC Pink:TKRFF) has released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its wholly owned Ayawilca zinc project in Peru, which has laid out a 21 year mine life.

The PEA laid out economics for an underground ramp-access mine development with a 5,000 tonne per day processing plant. This returned an initial capital expenditure of US$262 million with an after-tax internal rate of return of 27.1 percent.

The asset’s after-tax net present value was docketed at US$363 million using prices of US$1.20 per pound of zinc, US$18 per ounce of silver and US$0.95 per pound of lead on a 100 percent equity basis. Average head grades from Ayawilca saw results of 6.05 percent zinc, 18.3 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 67.1 g/t indium and 0.25 percent lead.

Average annual production is set to be around 101,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and 906,000 ounces of silver in lead concentrate.

“The PEA shows that the Ayawilca zinc project, which is located in one of the world’s most prolific polymetallic belts, is shaping up to be one of the best new zinc development projects in the Americas with strong economics and a long mine life of over 20 years,” Graham Carman, Tinka president and CEO, said in a statement.

“The excellent PEA results are a major milestone and justify the continued advancement of Ayawilca towards production while exploration drilling is continuing with the aim of discovering additional high grade zinc resources.”

Tinka highlighted possible opportunities for exploration and value expansion, including expanding resources at the asset’s Central, South, East, Zone 3 and Camp areas through additional drilling. The company also noted that there remains a number of untested exploration targets in the 170 square kilometer tenement package.

For the time being, however, the company intends to focus on next steps such as continued exploration drilling, obtaining required permits for infill drilling to complete a prefeasibility study and optimization studies to inspect for potential economic improvements.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.