INV Metals (INV.TO) is currently preparing an updated pre-feasibility study on its Loma Larga project in Ecuador after seeing the Ecuadorian government agreeing to a more favourable deal on the Fruta del Norte project with Lundin Gold. After having released a pre-feasibility study using a relatively low daily throughput, the company now seems to be convinced an increased throughput might be the key to unlock more value from the deposit.
And that’s an acceptable and realistic thought considering a higher daily throughput usually unlocks additional economies of scale (you only need the same amount of laborers at the production facility, meaning the fixed costs can now be spread over more ounces of gold, reducing the effective cost per ounce of gold that will be produced). This updated pre-feasibility study should be released in the next few weeks, and will focus on increasing the throughput to 2,500-3,000 tonnes per day and might be followed by a bankable feasibility study.
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