Nomad Royalty Company Ltd (TSE:NSR) (FRA:IRLB) revealed it has acquired a 0.21% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the near 'shovel-ready' Blackwater gold project in British Columbia for around US$3 million in cash and shares.
The property is owned and operated by Artemis Gold (CVE:ARTG) and a definitive feasibility study (DFS) is currently underway and scheduled for release in the middle of this year, with a construction start planned for the second quarter of 2022, and anticipated production earmarked for 2024.
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"The Blackwater Gold project represents one of the few sizeable near-shovel ready projects worldwide. Furthermore, the addition of the royalty now adds British Columbia, Canada to Nomad's growing list of jurisdictions where we own precious metal royalties and streams," said Nomad's CEO Vincent Metcalfe in a statement.
The company boss noted that this was a "large gold deposit with significant potential for resource expansion, and with a clear path to development".
The purchased royalty is a 0.21% net smelter return on all metals and minerals produced from mineral tenure 515809 which covers a portion of the asset and a higher-grade starter pit area.
The project boasts good infrastructure links and Artemis recently revised its approach to develop the mine to include reduced initial capital costs and to focus on high-grade starter zone at the southwestern zone of the deposit, with improved gold and silver recoveries.
The proven and probable reserves currently stand at 334.0 million tonnes at grades of 0.75 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 5.8 g/t silver for 8 million ounces of gold and 62.3 million ounces of silver.
The initial capital needed for the first phase - the first five years of a 23 year mine life - was pegged by the pre-feasibility study (PFS) at C$592 million, with average annual gold output of 248,000 ounces at all-in-sustaining-costs (AISC) of US$508 an ounce.
The Blackwater project has hosted over 300,000 metres of diamond drilling, supporting its current 2020 PFS Mineral Resource estimate, with 75% of the measured and indicated resource in the highest 'measured' category.
However, Nomad added, despite the extent of the drilling to date, the deposit remains open to potentially substantial expansion.
Nomad, which owns 14 royalty and stream assets, paid Artemis around US$1.7 million (C$2.2 million) in cash and issued it with over 1.58 million of its shares.
Shares in Toronto ticked up nearly a percent to C$1.06 each.
---Updates for share price--
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