Rathdowney Resources (RTH.V) has released the results of a preliminary economic assessment on its Olza lead-zinc project in Poland. The mine plan calls for a conventional underground mine plan with a processing rate of approximately 6,000 tonnes per day.
The initial capital expenditures should be relatively low at $227M, but we’re mainly positively surprised by the low amount of sustaining capex which is just $51M over the entire mine life. That’s quite low for an underground mine as it works out to be just below 4 cents per pound of zinc. The total payable production will be 1.34 billion pounds of zinc as well as 449 million pounds of lead at a total operating cost of $70 per tonne milled or approximately $0.50 per pound of zinc after deducting the lead revenue as a by-product credit.
The after-tax NPV8% of $170M (C$205M) is okayish compared to Rathdowney’s current market capitalization of C$30M, and we’re looking forward to see Rathdowney advancing this project towards feasibility and construction.
> Click here to go to Rathdowney’s website
Disclosure: The author holds no position in Rathdowney Resources. Please see our disclaimer for current positions.
