HENDERSON, NV --(Marketwired - March 29, 2017) - Firma Holdings Corp. (
The decision to increase throughput up to 1,000 tpd was due to:
- Improved project economics.
- Substantially increasing annual free cash flow potential at a marginally acceptable cost.
- Potential for other feed sources that exist in the region.
To lead the partnership, the Project Management Committee hired Benitzel Ávila Sanchez as the Magistral Project Manager. Mrs. Sanchez is a chemical engineer with extensive mining experience and has been previously employed in several key management positions, these include various positions at Alamo Gold's 18,000 tpd Mulatos Mine from 2007-2014. More recently Mrs. Sanchez has been a consultant on various projects worldwide.
Management is very pleased with Mrs. Sanchez's efforts to date in determining the best production path forward for the project, from November 2016 to January 2017 under her supervision the Magistral Project in Durango has:
- Initiated the operation to process the tailings stock.
- Evaluated the current condition of the beneficiation plant
- Further testing of the ore (tailings) metallurgy was also undertaken to determine:
- Feasibility of the project,
- Appropriate production process,
- Operational/ capital costs associated modifications to the current beneficiation plant,
- Return on capital for the project.
Based on the established project objectives, and all of the non-43-101 compliant, work that has gone into project planning (including work on the tailings and mill processes), the operations team is targeting the following numbers:
| Magistral Project | ||
| Estimated Tonnage | 1,200,000 Metric Tonnes | |
| Gold Price | $1,200 | |
| Estimated Gold / Tonne | 2.06 grams | |
| Estimated Silver / Tonne | 3.9 grams | |
| Recovery Rate Gold | 76% | |
| Recovery Rate Silver | 45% | |
| Commercial Production (CP) | 30,000 Tonnes per month | |
| Free Cash Flow - Pretax / Quarter (CP) | $2,746,000 USD | |
| Capital Required | $3,600,000 USD | |
| Return of Capital | 5 Months from startup | |
| Life of Project (assumes no additional ore feed) | 3.5 years | |
| Total Free Cash Flow Generated (Pre-tax) | $37,888,000 | |
Coinciding with the civil work and additional plant construction the company is in the process of making submission for the necessary permits & approvals that will cover the new plant design and increased throughput. The construction process is forecast to be 80% completed by September 2017, with the remaining 20% to be completed after the new permit has been received. It is expected that the plant can be completed and commissioning can begin in January 2018.
Mr. Francis Biscan Jr., Chairman and CEO of Firma Holdings Corp., stated, " As previously stated, we have been committed to couple our ability to identify early stage opportunity, with the operational excellence that can optimize the value of our projects. We are excited to have a project manager with the experience and dedication that Mrs. Sanchez brings to the project. Her experience brings considerable resources and technical skills to evaluate the merits of the project during the project construction processes and bring the project to full commercial production."
About Firma Holdings Corp. ( http://www.FirmaHoldings.com )
Firma currently holds active subsidiaries in mining and technology.
GRACEPOINT MINING CORP: Firma Holdings currently owns four mining projects that encompass over 48,000 acres in Mexico. The Don Roman district has 70+ distinct structures identified within 8 km diameter of a 100% owned centralized processing mill. The Picacho group has 9 gold-bearing veins over 4 mineralized target areas with an aggregate vein strike length of over 10.8 km. The Durango Smelter Project. And the Magistral project, which includes a processing plant, and the exclusive rights to process approximately 1.2 million tonnes of mineralized mill tailings, grading an average of 2.06 gold per tonne (79,000 ounces of gold).
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained herein are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, certain delays beyond the Company's control with respect to market acceptance of new technologies or products, delays in testing and evaluation of products, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please read the full disclaimer at www.FirmaHoldings.com .
Contact: David Barefoot (888) 901-4550 David@FirmaHoldings.com
