Northern Vertex’s Moss Mine located 80 miles southeast of La Vegas in Mohave County, western Arizona. Source: Northern Vertex Mining Corp.
Northern Vertex Mining Corp. [NEE-TSXV; NHVCF-OTC] said Friday March 8 that it has delivered the largest gold shipment to date from its Moss Mine in northwest Arizona.
The company said it shipped an estimated 1,004 ounces of gold to a third party refiner. “These ounces were produced over a nine-day period during late February, which represents a significant increase over the previous record shipment of 695 ounces in August, 2018.
Optimization efforts are beginning to yield measurable improvements in all areas of the operations at the Moss mine,” said Northern Vertex President and CEO Ken Berry. “Our team will continue to work diligently to improve the efficiencies of our mining operations,” he said. “Production in the current quarter is expected to improve, and management will provide regular updates as we achieve further milestones.”
Northern Vertex shares rallied on the news, rising 12.2% or $0.025 to 23 cents. The 52-week range is 19 cents and 56 cents.
Northern Vertex is a development stage company that recently put its flagship Moss gold-silver project on the fast track towards a planned production. The mine reached the commercial production stage in September, 2018, after the company’s partner Sprott Private Resource Lending LP, agreed to provide up to US$100 million in acquisition and development funding as well as a CAD$2 million private placement.
By deploying low-cost heap leaching recovery methods, Northern Vertex is expecting the Moss project to produce 45,000 ounces of gold equivalent during the first five years of production. Annual cash flow is projected at US$24 million and will be used to fund expansion and acquisitions.
With a forecast IRR (after tax) of 48%, the project benefits from robust economics. A projected all-in sustaining cash cost of US$603/oz should make the Moss project highly profitable at a gold price of US$1,267.68/oz (December 21, 2017), a scenario that offers investors protection in the event of a fall in the price of gold.
The company is led by Berry, an experienced financier who has outlined a strategy that aims to leverage the company’s strong balance sheet, production, cash flow, and financial partnerships to elevate Norhern Vertex to mid-tier gold producer status, generating over 200,000 ounces of gold production annually.
He plans to achieve that goal via a process of consolidation using the Moss mine as a springboard.
In keeping with that goal, Northern Vertex, recently signed a definitive US$20 million silver streaming agreement with Maverix Metals Inc. [MMX-TSXV; MACIF-OTC] and arranged a concurrent fully financed private placement that will generate US$8 million for the company.
Greenstone Resources 11 LP, one of the company’s shareholders, agreed, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, to subscribe for the majority of the private placement.
Maverix pledged to make a US$20 million up-front payment to a Northern Vertex subsidiary. In return, Northern Vertex has agreed to sell to Maverix 100% of the payable silver production from the Moss Mine on or after October 1, 2018, at a continuing payment price per ounce equal to 20% of the then applicable silver spot price.