Although the Or g aniz ation of the Petr o leum Exporting Countries r e c ently r eached a deal with Rus sia the U S and G20 t o cut pr oduction by appr o ximat e ly 10 per c ent this only moment arily st alled the pric e dr op as r eport ed by the CBC While Ma y c ontr act s plummet ed June WTI c ontr act s st a y ed abov e z e r o ending the da y at a v alue of U S 20 43 a barr el A c c o r ding t o the Financial Post the U S60 7 6 spr ead bet w een the Ma y and June v alues of WTI w as the widest in hist ory f or the t w o closest monthly c o n tr act s T ijana Mitrovic Mar a thon Gold r eleases pr e f easibility stud y f o r V alentine pr oject On April 6 Mar athon Gold r eport e d the r esult s of a r e c ent pr e f easibility study f or it s f lag ship V alentine g old pr oj ect in N e w f oundland which ac c o r ding t o the c ompan y c ould support a lo w c apit al c ost and high r a t e of r eturn open pit mine W e ha v e t a k en the appr oach of iden tifying the optimum st arting point f o r mining at V alentine emphasizing high est r a t e of r eturn and lo w est risk while r e c ognizing that the lar g e r esour c e in v ent ory and e x t ensiv e e xplor ation pot ential along strik e and at depth off er s plenty of opportunity f or mine lif e e x t e n sion Mar athon pr esident and CEO Mat t Manson said Highlight s fr om the study include an initial c apit al c ost of 2 7 2 million with an af t e r t ax pa yback of 1 8 y ear s and e xpect ed c apit al c ost s f or the lif e o f mine c oming in at 545 million T he pr oj ect will ha v e a v er ag e lif e o f mine t o t a l c ash c ost s of U S633 per ounc e and all insust aining c ost s of U S 7 39 per ounc e Curr ent pr ov en and pr obable r eserv es t o t al 1 87 million ounc es fr om 41 05 million t onnes gr ading at 1 41 gr ams per t onne Expect ed a v er ag e annual pr oduction c omes in at 1 7 5 000 ounc es of g old per y ear f or the f i r st nine y ear s of it s 12 y ear lif e ac c o r ding t o the c ompan y pr oducing 54 000 ounc es per y ear fr om y ear s 10 12 T he pr oject will include a mill and t ailing s manag ement f acility as w ell as a 300 per son ac c ommodation c amp a w ast e w at er tr eatment plant dit ching and sediment ation ponds f or w a t er man ag ement and sit e r oads T he mill is e xpect ed t o pr oc es s 25 million t onnes per y ear f ollo w ed by f our million t onnes per y ear f ollo wing a mill e xpansion T he V alentine pr oject is e xpect ed t o be A tlantic Canada s lar g est g old pr o duc er Manson said N ot withst anding the curr ent C O VID 19 challeng es it r e p r esent s the futur e of r esponsible r esour c e de v elopment in Centr al N e w f oundland A c c o r ding t o the study the curr ent timeline f or the pr oject sees the c omple tion of a f easibility study in the f i r st half of 20 21 Sit e c onstruction is scheduled t o begin on J an 1 20 2 2 with the f i r st g old being pr oduc ed by mid 2 0 2 3 Matthew P arizot Sil v e r c orp t o buy Guy ana Goldf ields f or 105 million Chinaf ocused silv er pr oduc er Silv e r c orp Met als has ent er ed int o an agr ee ment t o acquir e Guy ana Goldf ields in a deal v alued at 0 60 per shar e f or a t o t a l of 105 million T he c ombination of those c ompanies might seem odd Silv e r c orp has se v e n oper ating mines loc at ed within the Henan and Guandong pr ovinc es of China which pr oduc e primarily silv e r and zinc Guy ana Goldf ields f ocuses pri marily on it s f lag ship Aur or a g old mine acr os s the oc ean in the South Americ an c ountry of Guy ana A c c o r ding t o Silv e r c orp the c o m bined c ompanies will lead t o the cr eation of a leading pr ecious met als pr oduc er and g r e at er div er sif ic ation T he acqui sition of Guy ana Goldf ields w ould add t o the c ompan y s g old pr oject portf olio which is curr ently made up of the B Y P g old mine in Hunan P r ovinc e which sus pended oper ations in 201 4 T his tr ansaction will cr eat e a ne w globally div er sif ied pr ecious met als 24 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3 Husky is reducing its capital expenditure guidance to between 16 and 18 billion in 2020 Courtesy of Husky Energy The V alentine gold project is expected to produce 175000 ounces per year Courtesy of Marathon Gold