Rokmaster Resources says its Revel Ridge gold-silver project in southeast British Columbia may produce a double-digit return for investors, according to a preliminary economic assessment.  

The study outlined a mine operation with an after-tax net present value of $454 million at a 5% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 21%. The project may cost $588 million to build for an after-tax payback period of 3.2 years, the company said in a release on Dec. 29. 

Revel Ridge would be developed as an underground mine with on-site ore treatment by particle sorting followed by conventional milling and flotation to produce refractory gold concentrates for gold-silver doré bars. It would also produce separate lead and zinc concentrates for sale to third-party smelters, Rokmaster said.

It envisions a processing capacity of 2,920 tonnes per day over a production lifespan of 11.4 years. During that period, the Revel Ridge mine is expected to deliver average annual payable production of 158,000 oz. of gold equivalent (114,000 oz. gold, 940,000 oz. silver, 32.6 million lb. zinc and 19.6 million lb. lead).

The study was based on prices of US$1,850 per oz. gold, US$23.00 per oz. silver, US$1.26 per lb. zinc and US$0.90 per lb. lead. The commodities have gained recently, notably gold, which was more than US$2,067 an oz. on Tuesday.

Revel Ridge has 7.1 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 6.63 grams per tonne gold equivalent for 1.53 million oz. gold equivalent, according to a June resource.  It has 7.5 million inferred tonnes at 6.11 grams for 1.49 million oz. gold equivalent.

There is potential to expand the resource through ongoing diamond drilling, both down dips, along on-strike and on other targets, Rokmaster said.