Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment For Whistler Gold-Copper Project

ANCHORAGE, AK – U.S. GoldMining Inc. reported on initial economic assessment (the “PEA”) for its Whistler Gold-Copper Project, located 105 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The PEA constitutes an initial assessment under U.S. Regulation S-K 1300 and a preliminary economic assessment under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101).
Average annual production of 345,000oz gold equivalent (AuEq) per year estimated during the first three years of operations and total life of mine (LOM) production of 3.6Moz AuEq, comprised of 2.6Moz gold, 6.9Moz silver, and 592Mlbs copper, over a 14.6 year mine life. Modeled LOM strip ratio of 2.2:1 (waste:processed material), and even lower at 1.5:1 in years 1-3. Contemplates open-pit truck-and-shovel operation with conventional process methods operating at a nominal throughput rate of 40,000 tonnes per day (tpd), which comprises a flotation and leach circuit recovering 88.9% gold and 77.8% copper.
Tim Smith, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are delighted that the PEA underpins a very strong base case for the economic potential for the Project. We are particularly encouraged about the future given that the PEA’s base case is predicated on only indicated mineral resources at the Whistler Deposit, which represents one of the three known gold-copper deposits at the Project with existing mineral resources. The higher-grade core of the Whistler Deposit comes to surface and helps drive the strong production contemplated in the PEA, particularly in the initial years of mine life, with a low strip ratio to deliver a relatively short after-tax payback scenario of 2.1 years. The base case model delivers approximately 75% of the value from gold and 25% from copper and minor amounts of silver. These results provide a solid foundation for us to continue to enhance potential future value by seeking to incorporate nearby resources through additional work in the future, including at the Island Mountain and Raintree Deposits.
With the recent record setting metal prices in gold, copper and silver, the Project economics set out in the PEA significantly improve at current spot prices, which strongly positions Whistler as a meaningful project located in a top-tier mining jurisdiction. Further exploration potential is demonstrated by our growing list of high-priority exploration targets. Recent exploration work indicates continued potential for value-accretive discovery and potential resource growth in the future. In parallel with our plans to advance the Project towards pre-feasibility studies, we are advancing plans for field exploration activities to begin in the coming months.
With this PEA, we believe there is a compelling business case for the State of Alaska to accelerate permitting and development of the West Susitna Access Road. The road is expected to directly connect Whistler with existing transportation and energy infrastructure within the greater Anchorage region of Southcentral Alaska. We look forward to accelerating our collaboration with local and State government, regulatory agencies and other stakeholders in support of this infrastructure.”