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🕐02.06.10 - 17:18 Uhr
Kimber Announces Positive Preliminary Assessment For Monterde Gold-Silver Project, Mexico
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Add to your address book or safe list to ensure delivery of email blasts (click for instructions) Kimber Announces Positive Preliminary Assessment For Monterde Gold-Silver Project, Mexico Over 60,000 oz of Gold per Year with Net Cash Costs of US$254/oz over 13.4 Year Life VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - Kimber Resources Inc. (NYSE AMEX:KBX, TSX:KBR) is pleased to announce that it has received the results of an independent Preliminary Assessment (�PA�) prepared by Micon International Ltd., with assistance by Kirkham Geosystems Ltd., Knight Pi�sold Consulting Ltd. and various consultants employed directly by Kimber, on its 100% owned Monterde project, located in Mexico�s Sierra Madre mining district. This National Instrument 43-101 compliant PA is based on the revised mineral resource estimate for the Carmen and Veta Minitas deposits at Monterde detailed in the NI 43-101 technical report by Micon International and released on December 8, 2009. The PA was prepared based on a combination of open pit and underground mining for mill feed and a focus on the high grade gold-silver mineralization at the Monterde deposits. �The Preliminary Assessment for Kimber�s Monterde project presents a very attractive scenario for the development of a high grade, low cost gold-silver mine,� said Gordon Cummings, President & CEO of Kimber. �The mine plan laid out in the Preliminary Assessment involves a combination of open pit and underground mining, with material processed in a mill in order to maximize recoveries. Production is estimated to total 813,000 ounces of gold and 21.4 million ounces of silver over a mine life of 13.4 years,� he said. �Completion of this PA for Monterde is a crucial step in defining the potential economics at Monterde and outlines a path forward for the completion of a pre-feasibility study and potential project development. Opportunities have also been identified to expand the mineral resources at the three existing deposits, while additional potential has been identified in new areas of mineralization located to the north of the Carmen deposit.� Highlights of the Preliminary Assessment The following are the highlights of the Monterde PA: Before tax (at prices of US$875 per ounce of gold and US$14 per ounce of silver): IRR of 24.9% with undiscounted net cash flows of US$372 million; Project NPV (at an 8% discount rate) of US$141.8 million. After tax (at prices of US$875 per ounce of gold and US$14 per ounce of silver): IRR of 21.4% with undiscounted net cash flows of US$277 million; Project NPV (at an 8% discount rate) of US$99.0 million; Payback of pre-production capital and operating costs within 4.1 years. After tax (at near spot prices of US$1,200 per ounce of gold and US$18.00 per ounce of silver): IRR of 36.5% with undiscounted net cash flows of US$531 million; Project NPV (at an 8% discount rate) of US$231 million; Payback of pre-production capital and operating costs within 2.5 years. Pre-production capital of US$111.4 million, with total life-of-mine capital cost of US$130.6 million, including a total contingency amount of US$28.3 million. Total mine life of 13.4 years, with combination of open pit and underground production for 10 years at an average mill throughput of approximately 2,500 tonnes per day, followed by underground only for 3.4 years, with average mill throughput of approximately 1,500 tonnes per day. Average annual production of 62,600 ounces of gold and 1.85 million ounces of silver for the first 10 years of production and average life-of-mine annual production of 60,600 ounces of gold and 1.60 million ounces of silver. Life-of-mine cash costs of US$254 per ounce of gold, with silver as a by-product credit, and total costs of production, including capital costs, of US$415 per ounce of gold, with silver as a by-product credit. Average annual production of 92,100 gold equivalent ounces for the first 10 years of production with average annual production of 86,200 gold equivalent ounces over the life of mine for 13.4 years (total production of 812,700 gold ounces and 21.4 million ounces of silver). Life-of-mine cash costs of US$433 per gold equivalent ounce and total costs of production for life-of-mine, including capital costs, of US$546 per gold equivalent ounce.The PA includes inferred mineral resources as part of the mine plan. It is noted that CIM Mineral Resource Definition Standards dated November 22, 2005 states that �due to the uncertainty that may be attached to Inferred Mineral Resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration.� Economic Analysis Analysis of various price scenarios and varying discount rates before tax Case 1 is base case Analysis of various price scenarios and varying discount rates after tax
After Tax Results Case Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Gold price per ounce (US$) $875.00 $1,200.00 $898.37 Silver price per ounce (US$) $14.00 $18.00 $14.78 IRR 21.4% 36.5% 23.2% Undiscounted net cash flows (US$ millions) $277.0 $530.7 $303.4 NPV 5% discount rate (US$ millions $147.6 $313.9 $165.2 NPV 8% discount rate (US$ millions) $99.0 $231.4 $113.2 Case 1 is base caseCase 2 is near spot May 28, 2010 Case 3 is 3 year trailing average to 30 April, 2010 The following table details some of the key mine plan parameters and assumptions used in this Preliminary Assessment: Project parameters Amounts Total tonnes of ore produced 10,609,000 Life-of-mine ore production rate 2,200 tpd Open Pit Tonnes of mill feed produced 5,195,000 Average gold grade 1.71 g/t Average silver grade 122.2 g/t Stripping ratio 13.8 Underground Tonnes of mill feed produced 5,414,000 Average gold grade 3.34 g/t Average silver grade 89.4 g/t Gold recovery average* 95.6% Silver recovery average* 61.8% Recoverability after losses in solution and dor� refining losses 98.5% Total recoverable gold production (ounces) 812,700 Total recoverable silver production (ounces) 21,423,800 Payability factor - gold 99.5% Payability factor - silver 98.0% Exchange rate US$:Mexican Peso 13.0 Mine Life 13.4 years Initial capital US$111.4 million Life-of-mine capital US$130.6 million Average annual gold production First 10 years 62,600 ounces LOM 60,600 ounces Average annual silver production First 10 years 1,845,500 ounces LOM 1,598,800 ounces Total mining operating cost open pit LOM US$24.94/t milled Total mining operating costs underground LOM US$39.34/t milled Processing Cost US$13.88/t milled G&A US$0.94/t milled Corporate Tax Rate 28%* Gold and silver recoveries are calculated as an average excluding losses in solution and refining dor� losses which are detailed separately above (losses in solution and refining dor� losses total 1.5% for both gold and silver). Gold equivalent ounces referred to in this news release are based on prices of US$875/oz gold and US$14/oz silver for recovered ounces, giving a ratio of 62.5 to convert recoverable silver ounces to gold equivalent ounces. After refining charges, net revenue per payable ounce has a ratio of 63.7 to 1. Compliance with National Instrument 43-101 Qualified Persons The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed by Mr. Petrus (Marius) Mare P.Geo., Vice-President Exploration of the Company. About Kimber Kimber owns mineral concessions covering in excess of 39,000 hectares in the prospective Sierra Madre gold-silver belt, including the Companys Monterde property, where three gold-silver mineral resources have already been defined. The most advanced of these, the Carmen deposit, has been extensively drilled and has undergone detailed geologic modeling. The completion of a Preliminary Assessment for Monterde represents a significant step forward for Kimber Resources and is expected to lead to further development and more advanced economic studies at the Monterde deposits. Click here for contact information Forward looking statements The mineral resource estimates for the Carmen and Veta Minitas Deposits at Monterde were prepared by Mr. Gary Giroux P.Eng., a senior associate of Micon International, and the results for Carmen are effective at November 17, 2009 and for Veta Minitas at November 30, 2009. The estimation of grades was constrained by models of the geological and mineralized zones created by Kimber geological staff under the supervision of Mr. Petrus (Marius) Mare, P.Geo. Mr. Petrus (Marius) Mare, P.Geo. is the Vice-President Exploration, and the designated Qualified Person (�QP�) for the Monterde project under National Instrument 43-101. Models of the geology and mineralization of gold and silver at Carmen were reviewed and approved by Mr. Terrence Hennessey P.Geo. of Micon International. The wireframes of the high grade and low grade gold and silver mineralization were interpreted into various sub-domains to optimize the sample search orientation by Pierre Desautels P.Geo. of PEG Mining Consultants Inc. The gold and silver metallurgical recovery models used to calculate gold and silver recoveries by block and gold equivalent grade by block were prepared by Kimber staff and consultants, and reviewed and approved by Richard Gowans P.Eng., President of Micon International.
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