Curis Resources (CUV.TO) has released its anticipated Pre-Feasibility Study on their 100% owned Florence Copper project in Arizona, USA.
The results of their PFS are astonishing, as the company outlines a production profile of 55Mlbspa of copper for the first 5 years, increasing to 85Mlbspa from the sixth year of operations on. The initial capex comes in under the $200M mark and the post-tax NPV based on a 7.5% discount rate and a copper price of $2.75/lbs is just over half a billion dollars, or approximately $9 per outstanding Curis share. If we apply a copper price of $3/lbs, the NPV increases to $632M, or over $11/share.
This PFS includes the total copper resource, but as everybody knows the company still isn’t allowed to recover the copper on the non-state land. As Curis will be able to produce copper from the State Land for the first 11-13 years of the minelife, the company has until 2025 to work together with the town council to reach a long-term solution regarding the zoning ordinances.
We remain confident in Curis’ future, and as the management team is ticking all the boxes we remain hopeful the company will indeed be able to declare commercial production in 2016.
Disclosure: The author holds a long position in Curis Resources Ltd. Please see our disclaimer for current positions.
