Morning Briefing: Arizona Sonoran Copper Publishes Cactus PFS

Welcome to Mining Stock Daily. I’m Trevor Hall. 

Today is Thursday February 22nd.

Wednesday gold rallied to as high as $2044 April gold basis before getting slammed back down to $2030 in the paper derivatives trading. But the yellow dog managed to bounce to close at $2036 in the afternoon session. The Mining Stock Journal said that there's currently strong demand in the physical gold markets in the east that is preventing the paper manipulators in the west from pushing the gold price below $2000. Silver on the other hand was hammered Wednesday but the blistering sell-off didn't occur until just before the Comex opened. The Mining Stock Journal opined that the Comex banks are shaking the tree hard in paper silver to induce selling that enables the banks to increase their net long position in paper silver. The mining stocks continue to get beat down, with GDX down 0.63%. The mining stock journal noted that the mining stocks are showing many signs of a bottom. In that regard, the newsletter is putting a strong buy on an emerging silver producer that is undervalued by a factor of 4x based on the latest feasibility study. To learn more about this idea, go to investementreseachdymics.com

We will get to the news from the miners and explorers in a moment, but first a word about today’s sponsor.

This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by… Vizsla Silver

Vizsla Silver is focused on becoming one of the world’s largest single-asset silver producers through the exploration and development of the 100% owned Panuco-Copala silver-gold district in Sinaloa, Mexico. The company consolidated this historic district in 2019 and has now completed over 325,000 meters of drilling. The company has the world's largest, undeveloped high-grade silver resource. Learn more at ⁠https://vizslasilvercorp.com/⁠

And here’s what you need to know this morning….

Arizona Sonoran Copper completed its Prefeasibility study for its Cactus Project in Arizona. The report was published yesterday afternoon and contemplates an operation which which produced 55ktons of copper per year with peak production numbers within its 21 year mine life of 74 ktons. Its Maiden proven and probable reserves now sit at 276.3 million tonns of .48% soluble copper. The total initial capital cost for Cactus is estimated to be $515 million, an dincludes a $75M of contingencies over a 2 year period. The economics currently sit at a post-tax NPV of $509M with an IRR of 15.3% using a $3.90/lb copper price. (TSX:ASCU | OTCQX:ASCUF) News Release

Western Alaska Minerals released its initial resource estimate for Waterpump Creek Zone on its Illinois Creek project in Alaska. The initial inferred resource sits at 2.39Mt at 977 g/t silver equivalent for 75 Moz AgEq. The 2023 WAM 3D IP survey results demonstrate significant exploration potential both immediately north of WPC resource and south along the 7.5 km LH trend. In addition, the geophysics support a major new target, the Warm Springs target, which further connects the WPC/LH trend with the historic Illinois Creek mine gossan oxide Au/Ag deposit. (TSXV:WAM) News Release

Minera Alamos provided an operations update for the Santana gold project. Approximately 20,000 oz of gold at an average grade of 0.63 g/t and an approximate strip ratio of 1.6:1 has now been defined for mining and loading over a 12-month schedule utilizing the current leach pad installed capacity. Included in the current plan are an additional 4,500 oz of higher grade (~1 g/t) mineralized material. Due to its elevated gold content, this mineralization will be stockpiled initially for future processing pending additional studies to determine an optimal approach for crushing and processing to maximize recoveries. The Company is working to conclude discussions with its mining contractor to prepare their equipment and personnel for the revised operational plan and expansion of mining and stacking activities. (TSXV: MAI) News Release

Newmont published their fourth quarter and full year 2023 results this morning. The company says they produced 5.5 million gold ounces and 891 thousand gold equivalent ounces from copper, silver, lead and zinc; in-line with revised guidance range and incorporating the legacy Newcrest assets from the acquisition close date. Its all-in sustaining costs per ounce of gold was $1,444/oz. Interestingly, they also announced the would seek to divest six non-core assets on their books, including Coffee in Yukon, Éléonore in Quebec, and Cripple Creek & Victor in Colorado. (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT) News Release

Orla Mining published drill results from exploration activities on the Camino Rojo deposits the second half of last year. Historical and recent exploration drilling targeted lower stratigraphy, beneath the existing resources. In 2023, a drill section was completed 450 metres down-plunge from the current mineral resources and revealed significant intersections of high-grade polymetallic (Au-Ag-Zn) semi-massive to massive replacement-style mineralization. Recent drilling shows that the Camino Rojo mineral system extends beyond the current mineral resource envelope, presenting a considerable opportunity for resource expansion. Results included 6.25 g/t AuEq over 11.7 m and 12.7 g/t AuEq over 5.6m. (TSX: OLA) (NYSE: ORLA) News Release

O3 Mining published initial results form its infill drilling campaign completed on the Norlartic Extension within the Marban Alliance Project in Val-d'Or, Québec. Drilling has returned 9.6 g/t Au over 6.2 metres in hole O3MA-23-539 at a vertical depth of 36 metres, including 104 g/t over 0.5 metre, and 3.7 g/t Au over 5.9 metres in hole O3MA-23-539 at a vertical depth of 21 metres. (TSXV: OIII) (OTCQX: OIIIF) News Release

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