i-80 Gold Corp. press release

i-80 Gold Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Mineral Point Open Pit Project, Nevada; After-Tax NPV(5%) of $614 Million with an After-Tax IRR of 12% at US$2,175/oz Au

2025-02-21

TSX - Toronto Stock Exchange · Gold · Silver · United States

Canada NewsWire

_This news release constitutes a "designated news release" for the purposes of the Company's prospectus supplement dated August 12, 2024 , to its short form base shelf prospectus dated June 21, 2024 . _

RENO, Nev. , Feb. 21, 2025 /CNW/ - i-80 GOLD CORP. (TSX:IAU) (NYSE:IAUX) ("i-80 Gold", or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the preliminary economic assessment (the "PEA") for the Mineral Point Project ("Mineral Point" or the "Project"). Mineral Point is situated within the Company's broader Ruby Hill Complex (the "Complex"). The Complex is located along the southeastern end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend in northern Nevada , United States . The PEA demonstrates that Mineral Point has the potential to become the flagship asset within the Company's gold portfolio.

"We are pleased to release PEA results for our Mineral Point project as it marks another key step in our plan to establish i-80 Gold as a mid-tier gold producer with a robust pipeline of growth. A key driver of future growth, Mineral Point is the largest of our two planned oxide projects complementing our three high-grade underground mines in northern Nevada . With significant production scale, a long mine life, and low costs, Mineral Point is expected to be the flagship project within our portfolio," stated Richard Young , Chief Executive Officer.

Mineral Point PEA Highlights

Mineral Estimates, Production and Mine Life

Large open pit heap leach gold mine with a life of mine ("LOM") of approximately 17 years. Annual gold equivalent production (1) of approximately 280,000 ounces following ramp up. Estimated LOM cash costs (2) of $1,270 per ounce and all-in-sustaining costs (2) of $1,400 per ounce. Updated mineral resource estimate resulting in an indicated gold mineral resource of 3.4 million ounces at 0.48 grams per tonne ("g/t") and an indicated silver resource of 104.3 million ounces at 15.0 g/t. Updated mineral resource estimate resulting in an inferred gold mineral resource of 2.1 million ounces at 0.34 g/t and an inferred silver resource of 91.5 million ounces at 14.6 g/t.

Project Economics

Based on a $2,175 /oz gold price, the Project's undiscounted after-tax cash flows (3)(4) total $1,470 million with an after-tax net present value (3)(4) ("NPV") of $614 million , assuming a 5% discount rate, generating an 12% internal rate of return ("IRR"). Based on spot gold and silver prices of $2,900 /oz and $32.75 /oz respectively, the Project's undiscounted after-tax cash flows (2)(3) total $3,665 million with an after-tax NPV (3)(4) of $2,092 million , assuming a 5% discount rate, generating an IRR of 27%. Mine construction capital, including all pre-production facilities and equipment is estimated at $708 million . This includes $299 million in mobile equipment for the initial fleet. In addition, approximately 104 million tonnes of stripping is required in the first year of production to gain access to the body of mineralized material costing $287 million . LOM sustaining capital is estimated at $388 million , primarily for a leach pad expansion and mobile equipment maintenance and replacements. Total capital includes a contingency of 15%, or $63 million applied to LOM mobile equipment of $420 million . A 25% contingency of $122 million has also been applied to all other capital including earth works, infrastructure and heap leach expansion costs. Project funding is expected to include a combination of cash flow from the Company's existing operations and a corporate debt facility.

Mining and Processing

The primary mining method will be a conventional open pit truck (24 trucks) and shovel (4 shovels) operation, moving approximately 100 million tonnes per year during a steady state of production. The LOM strip ratio is 2.9:1, excluding capitalized pre-stripping. Material mined will be crushed, stacked and processed at the heap leach facility located on site at a rate of approximately 23 million tonnes per year during steady state. All mineralized material will be placed on leach pads following two-stage crushing. Processing also includes a Merrill Crowe circuit for the recovery of silver. Ultimate block recovery determined by mineral and rock alteration type. Overall average gold grade processed of 0.39 g/t with an expected average gold recovery of 78% and an average silver grade processed of 15.37 g/t with an expected average silver recovery of 41%.

All amounts are in United States dollars, unless otherwise stated.

A summary of key valuation, cost, and operating metrics is presented in Table 1 below. For more detailed metrics presented on an annual basis, see Mineral Point Project Detailed Cash Flow Model in the Appendix.

Table 1: Summary of PEA Key Operating and Financial Metrics

| Project Economics | Unit | | | Gold Price | $/oz | $2,175 | | Silver Price | $/oz | $27.25 | | Pre-Tax NPV (5%) (3) | $M | $828 | | After-Tax NPV (5%) (3)(4) | $M | $614 | | After-Tax IRR (4) | % | 12 % | | After-Tax Cash Flow (4) | $M | $1,470 | | Production Profile | | | | Mine Life | years | 16.5 | | Mineralized Material Mined | 000s tonnes | 358,741 | | Gold Grade of Mineralized Material Mined | g/t Au | 0.39 | | Silver Grade of Mineralized Material Mined | g/t Ag | 15.37 | | Waste Tonnes Mined | 000s tonnes | 1,032,779 | | Capitalized Stripping Tonnes Mined | 000s tonnes | 104,236 | | Total Tonnes Moved (incl. heap leach relocation) | 000s tonnes | 1,519,756 | | Total Mineralized Material Processed | 000s tonnes | 358,741 | | Gold Grade Processed | g/t Au | 0.39 | | Silver Grade Processed | g/t Ag | 15.37 | | Strip Ratio (excluding pre-strip) | (waste:mineralized material) | 2.9:1 | | Average Gold Recovery | % | 78 % | | Average Silver Recovery | % | 41 % | | Total Gold Recovered | 000s oz | 3,529 | | Total Silver Recovered | 000s oz | 72,028 | | Total Gold Equivalent Recovered (1) | 000's oz | 4,432 | | Average Annual Gold Equivalent Production (1) (LOM) | 000s oz | 268 | | Average Annual Gold Equivalent Production (1) (following production ramp up) | 000s oz | 282 | | Unit Operating Costs | | | | LOM Operating Cost | | | | Mineralized Material Mined | $/t mined | $2.76 | | Mineralized Waste Mined (incl. heap leach pad movement) | $/t mined | $2.73 | | Processed (heap leach) | $/t processed | $4.30 | | G&A | $/t processed | $0.83 | | LOM Total Cash Costs (2) (net of by-product credit) | $/oz | $1,270 | | LOM All-in Sustaining Costs (2) (net of by-product credit) | $/oz | $1,400 | | Total Capital Costs | | | | Construction Capital | $M | $707.5 | | Capitalized Stripping | $M | $287.3 | | Sustaining Capital | $M | $388.4 | | Reclamation & Surety | $M | $69.8 | | Total Capital & Closure Costs | $M | $1,453.1 |

"As a cornerstone of our growth strategy, Mineral Point transforms our gold production profile and positions i-80 Gold as a significant silver producer. This project's simple design and proven technology, combined with its location on a brownfield site, and our existing understanding of geology, hydrology and metallurgy, substantially reduces execution risks typically associated with projects of this scale. The Mineral Point PEA confirms its potential to become one of Nevada's largest open-pit truck-and-shovel mining operations," added Matthew Gili , President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mineral Resource Update

The PEA includes all drilling conducted by the previous owners up to 2021 when i-80 Gold acquired the property. The updated mineral resource estimate includes a total of 3,376,000 ounces of gold with an average grade of 0.48 g/t Au in the indicated category and 2,117,000 ounces of gold with average grade of 0.34 g/t Au in the inferred category of resources (see Table 2). Additionally, the resource hosts 104,332,000 ounces of silver at 15.0 g/t in the inferred category and 91,473,000 ounces of silver at 14.6 g/t in the indicated category. The reported mineral resource estimate is constrained to a selected optimized pit shell using Lerchs-Grossman (LG) mining software (see Figure 1).

The majority of the economic material is hosted within the Hamburg Dolomite constrained by the Dunderberg Shale hanging wall and the Secret Canyon Formation foot wall lithology units.

Grade estimation was carried out using a probability assigned constrained kriging (PACK) methodology in Vulcan software to define potentially mineralized high and low-grade domains using different grade threshold values (see Figure 2). Low and high-grade indicators were estimated, and an estimated indicator probability value was selected as the probability threshold to define blocks for the high-grade domain. A block size of 25 ft × 25 ft × 25 ft was selected based on a bench height of proposed mining operations, along with historical mining in the Archimedes pits and future open pit mining considerations. Soft boundaries for the low-grade and high-grade domains were used for selection of drill hole 10-foot composites to estimate grade values to blocks.

Updates to the mineral resource estimate include incorporating a current topographic surface, modified block model coding for certain fields, and refined specific gravity measurements and tonnage factor conversions.

In addition to advancing the project permitting, an updated mineral resource estimate is expected to be completed in 2029 for inclusion in the planned feasibility study. The updated resource is expected to include 50,000 meters of drilling targeting additional sample material for metallurgical test work, resource definition to upgrade current resource classification, and potential expansion. The timing of the anticipated feasibility study is planned to align with the expected completion of the permitting process. The objective is to have an up-to-date feasibility study at the time permits are received to support a planned corporate debt facility, which combined with expected cash flows from the Company's existing operations, is expected to finance the construction of Mineral Point.

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Table 2: Mineral Point Mineral Resource Estimate Statement as of December 31, 2024

| | Indicated Mineral Resources | | | | | | | | Tonnes | Au | Ag | Au | Ag | | | | (000) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (000 oz) | (000 oz) | | | Mineral Point | 216,982 | 0.48 | 15.0 | 3,376 | 104,332 | | | Total Indicated | 216,982 | 0.48 | 15.0 | 3,376 | 104,332 | | | | | | | | | | | | Inferred Mineral Resources | | | | | | | | Tonnes | Au | Ag | Au | Ag | | | | (000) | (g/t) | (g/t) | (000 oz) | (000 oz) | | | Mineral Point | 194,442 | 0.34 | 14.6 | 2,117 | 91,473 | | | Total Inferred | 194,442 | 0.34 | 14.6 | 2,117 | 91,473 | | | Notes to table above:

I. Mineral resources have an effective date of December 31, 2024

II. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability

III. Mineral resources are the portion of Mineral Point that can be mined profitably by open pit mining method and processed by heap leaching

IV. Mineral resources are below an updated topographic surface

V. Mineral resources are constrained to economic material inside a conceptual open pit shell. The main parameters for pit shell construction are a gold price of $2,175/oz Au, a silver price of $26.00/oz, average gold recovery of 77%, average silver recovery of 40%, open pit mining costs of $3.31/tonne, heap leach average processing costs of $3.47/tonne, general and administrative cost of $0.83/tonne processed, gold refining cost of $1.85/oz, silver refining cost of $0.50, and a 3% royalty

VI. Mineral resources are reported above a 0.1 g/t Au cutoff grade

VII. Mineral resources are stated as in situ

VIII. Mineral resources have not been adjusted for metallurgical recoveries

IX. Reported units are metric tonnes

X. Reported table numbers have been rounded as required by reporting guidelines and may result in summation discrepancies | | | | | | |

Economic Analysis

The Project's NPV and IRR in relation to fluctuations in the long-term gold and silver price are outlined in Table 3.

Table 3: Mineral Point Gold Price Sensitivity After-tax Analysis

[](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2625012/i_80_Gold_Corp_i_80_Gold_Announces_Positive_Preliminary_Economic.html)

Note: Project NPV at 8% is $296 million .

Project Overview

Mineral Point is a component of the broader Ruby Hill Complex located along the southeastern end of the Battle Mountain / Eureka gold trend; a northwest-trending geological belt located in north-central Nevada (see Figure 3). The Project is an open pit heap leach project and is an extension of the historically mined Archimedes open pit, which was a major past-producing asset. Mineral Point contains a large oxide gold and silver deposit, as well as multiple base metal deposits, and has the potential to become the Company's largest gold producing asset.

The Complex also includes the Archimedes Underground Project, comprised of the Ruby Deeps and 426 zone, which are located immediately northwest and below the historic Archimedes Pit.

Current processing infrastructure at the Complex includes a primary and secondary crushing plant, grinding mill, leach pad, and carbon-in-column circuit, which are designed to process oxide material. Some of these installations are applicable to Ruby Deeps within the Archimedes Underground, however, their capacity does not meet the requirements of Mineral Point, a larger deposit. The existing heap leach pad on the property will be moved in years 7 and 14 of operation as the open pit boundaries for Mineral Point expand.

The Mineral Point deposit is composed of oxide and transitional material, which is amenable to heap leaching after a two-stage crush. Appropriate facilities are planned to the west of the current facilities to minimize haulage distances and optimize facility layout for the approximately 17-year mine life.

[](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2624976/i_80_Gold_Corp_i_80_Gold_Announces_Positive_Preliminary_Economic.html)

Geology and Mineralization

The Mineral Point deposit is a large, disseminated gold-silver mineralized zone located immediately west of the Archimedes Pit and the Archimedes Underground. Mineral Point is hosted within a north trending and plunging fold hinge. Stratigraphically, most mineralization is contained within the Cambrian Hamburg dolomite with lesser quantities in the Dunderberg shale.

Locally the deposit contains high-grade gold and silver in what were formerly massive sulfide veins that are now oxidized. The deposit spans a length of over 2.5 kilometers with a width of nearly 1 kilometer at its widest.

Mining and Processing

The PEA demonstrates an initial mine life of approximately 17 years with an average annual gold equivalent production (1) of approximately 280,000 ounces of gold following production ramp up. The PEA represents a preliminary point-in-time estimate of the mine plan.

Open pit optimization produced a series of nested pit shells that prioritize early extraction of the most economically viable and robust material. The mine will be developed in consecutive phases to manage the stripping ratio and to provide consistent process feed.

The mine will be accessed by a set of ramps designed for 320-ton haul trucks on the west side of the pit. Mining will be conducted by rope and hydraulic shovels with an annual production rate of 23,000,000 processed tonnes.

The PEA incorporates a two-stage crush for the process material placed on the heap leach. Due to the silver in the deposit, a Merrill Crowe plant has been included in the process. A LOM processing schedule is illustrated in Figure 4.

[](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2624977/i_80_Gold_Corp_i_80_Gold_Announces_Positive_Preliminary_Economic.html)

Capital Cost Summary

Mine construction capital, which includes all pre-production facilities and equipment, is estimated to total $708 million. This includes $299 million in mobile equipment for the initial fleet. In addition, approximately 104 million tonnes of stripping is required in the first year of production to gain access to the body or mineralized material costing $287 million .

LOM sustaining capital is estimated at $388 million , primarily for leach pad expansion and mobile equipment maintenance and rebuilds.

Mineral Point is expected to generate an estimated $1,470 million in after-tax cash flow over the current mine life (see Figure 5).

Table 4: Capital Cost Estimates

| | Mine Construction | Sustaining | | ($M) | ($M) | | | Capitalized Waste | $287.3 | | | Construction Capital | $290.9 | | | Mining Equipment | $298.7 | $14.3 | | Sustaining Capital | | $306.5 | | Contingency (15% Mobile Equipment; 25% Facilities) | $117.9 | $67.6 | | Total Capital Cost | $994.8 | $388.4 |

[](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2624978/i_80_Gold_Corp_i_80_Gold_Announces_Positive_Preliminary_Economic.html)

Operating Cost Summary

The PEA estimates cash costs (2) of $1,270 per ounce of gold and all-in sustaining costs (2) of $1,400 per ounce of gold for the LOM (see Table 5).

Figure 6 illustrates these operating costs over the Project's estimated production profile.

Table 5: Total and Unit Operating Costs

| | Total Costs | Unit Cost | Cost per Ounce | | ($M) | ($/t ) | ($/oz Au) | | | Mining | $3,874.4 | $10.80 | $1,097.8 | | Processing | $1,542.2 | $4.30 | $437 | | G&A | $296.6 | $0.83 | $84 | | Refining, Royalties & Net Proceeds Tax | $722.3 | $2.01 | $205 | | By-Product Credits | ($1,953.0) | ($5.4) | ($553) | | Total Operating Cost/Cash Costs (2) | $4,482.6 | $12.50 | $1,270.1 | | Closure & Reclamation | $69.8 | $0.19 | $19.8 | | Sustaining Capital | $388.4 | $1.08 | $110.1 | | All-in Sustaining Costs (2) | $4,940.8 | $13.77 | $1,399.9 |

[](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2624979/i_80_Gold_Corp_i_80_Gold_Announces_Positive_Preliminary_Economic.html)

Permitting

Base line work began in the fall of 2024 to allow for Mineral Point permitting to commence in the second half of 2027 following regulatory agency approvals of the Lower Archimedes Underground permitting actions. Baseline studies commenced in late 2024 to facilitate the permit application. Based on the anticipated disturbance footprint and associated dewatering, it is expected that National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") related permitting activities will result in the need to complete an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS") through the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM").

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection ("NDEP") permitting will also be required with modifications to the site Water Pollution Control Permits, a modification to the Reclamation Permit, and a revision to the Class II Air Quality Operating Permit.

Additionally, due to the sensitivity surrounding water in Diamond Valley , water rights will be a primary focus based on pumping and potential impacts, in addition to, the formation of a pit lake following cessation of mining. With the level of detail that is anticipated for the various permitting actions, the projected timeline for regulatory agency approvals is by the end of 2029.

Next Steps to Feasibility Study

A feasibility study in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - _Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects _("NI 43-101") and Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K ("S-K 1300") with an updated mineral resource estimate is expected to be completed in 2029. The updated resource is expected to include 50,000 meters of drilling. Below is a summary of additional work to be conducted.

Resource Delineation and Exploration

Begin resource conversion drilling to upgrade inferred mineral resource and to better define the types or mineralized material and mining limits. Include geotechnical drilling in the expansion program to better understand the pit slopes and operating safety factors. Enhance the metallurgical testing with samples specifically collected to improve the understanding of Mineral Point in contrast to the other projects within the Ruby Hill Complex.