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8 E&MJ; • JULY 2014 www.e-mj.com REGIONAL NEWS - U.S. & CANADA Updated Study Pegs Brucejack Project Cost at $747 Million Pretium Resources has announced the results of an updated NI 43-101-compli- ant feasibility study of its high-grade, underground Brucejack gold-silver project in northern British Columbia. Tetra Tech completed the study update, which prima- rily reflects more current metals prices, a more current U.S. dollar:Canadian dollar exchange rate, and the December 2013 mineral resource estimate for the Valley of the Kings deposit. The operating parameters contemplat- ed for the project are fundamentally unchanged from the project's June 2013 feasibility study. The 2013 study was based on $1,350 gold, $20 silver, and a one-to-one U.S.$:C$ exchange rate. The 2014 study uses $1,100 gold, $17 silver, and a U.S.$0.92:C$1 exchange rate. Estimated capital cost to develop the Brucejack project has increased by 12.6% to $746.9 million in U.S. dollar terms, reflecting the depreciation in the Canadian dollar and power, camp size, temporary facilities, water and sewerage treatment, waste disposal, and owner's costs. Additionally, experience gained mining and processing a 10,000-metric-ton (mt) bulk sample from the Valley of the Kings and operating the site year-round for three years is reflected in the study, both on a technical and economic basis. Brucejack is planned as a high-grade, underground mining operation using long- hole stoping and cemented paste backfill. The Valley of the Kings deposit—the high- er-grade, primary targeted deposit—will be developed first. The lower-grade West Zone deposit will be developed in the second half of the project's 18-year mine life. Valley of the Kings proven and probable mineral reserves are currently estimated at 13.6 million mt, grading 15.7 g/mt gold and 12 g/mt silver, and containing 6.9 mil- lion oz of gold and 4.6 million oz of silver. West Zone proven and probable mineral reserves are estimated at 2.9 million mt grading 6.9 g/mt gold and 279 g/mt silver, and containing 600,000 oz of gold and 26 million oz of silver. The Brucejack project is planned to operate at a processing rate of 2,700 mt/d, mining a total of 16.5 million mt of ore at an average mill feed grade of 14.1 g/mt gold. Mineral processing will be based on conventional gravity concentration and sul- phide flotation, producing gold-silver doré and gold-silver flotation concentrate. Life- of-mine production is estimated at 7.27 million oz of gold and 27.63 million oz of silver, including the gold and silver recov- ered in the flotation concentrate. In consideration of the current permitting status of the project and the updated con- struction timeline contemplated in the feasi- bility study, Pretium now anticipates that commercial production at Brucejack will begin in 2017. The company will begin eval- uating financing options in the fall of 2014. "Brucejack will be a high-grade, low- cost producer with average annual produc- tion of more than 500,000 oz of gold in the first eight years," Pretium President and CEO Robert Quartermain said. "Even in an uncertain gold price environment, Brucejack can deliver high margins, and from a safe jurisdiction." Ausenco Awarded Engineering Contract for Dumont Nickel Royal Nickel has awarded Ausenco Ltd. a contract to begin detailed engineering on long-lead equipment for Royal Nickel's Dumont open-pit nickel project 60 km northeast of Rouyn-Noranda in western Quebec. The project is planned to produce an average of 47,000 mt/y of nickel in concentrate over a 20-year mine life, mak- ing it the fifth-largest nickel sulphide mine in the world. The Dumont deposit contains approxi- mately 6.9 billion lb of nickel in proven and probable reserves grading 0.27% nick- el, and 9.75 billion lb in measured and indicated resources grading 0.26% nickel. Ore from the mine will be processed into a high-grade nickel concentrate using con- ventional methods and then transported for further refining elsewhere. The Dumont process plant will be con- structed in two phases. Phase one will have an initial average throughput of 52,000 mt/d, using a single SAG mill and two ball mills for grinding, desliming using cyclones, conventional flotation, and mag- netic separation to produce a nickel con- centrate also containing cobalt and plat- inum group metals. To accommodate phase two, the plant is designed to be expanded by the fifth year of operation to 105,000 mt/d by effective- ly duplicating most of the first mill. Additional mine equipment will also be purchased to allow the corresponding increase in mine throughput and the poten- tial to implement trolley assist at that time. Construction and operation of the mine and processing facilities will be made easier by the existence of infrastructure, including roads, rail and access to low-cost power. Ausenco was the lead engineering com- pany for the Dumont project pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. In other news from Royal Nickel, the company has signed a definitive agreement with the primary selling shareholders of True North Nickel Inc. to acquire approximately 56% of True North, a private company whose main asset is a 100% interest in the West Raglan nickel sulphide project in Quebec. Permitting is under way for an underground mine at Brucejack that will employ long-hole stoping and cement- ed paste backfill. (Photo courtesy of Pretium Resources) EMJ_pg04-27_EMJ_pg04-27 7/2/14 1:50 PM Page 8