By Deborah Bacal
Proactive Investors
Shares of Almaden Minerals (TSE:AMM) (NYSE MKT:AAU) were jumping on Thursday after the company reported the results of a preliminary economic assessment on its Ixtaca gold-silver deposit in Mexico, which boasted an after tax IRR of 22%.
Under the base case scenario using prices of US$1,320 per ounce of gold and US$21 per ounce of silver, the pre-tax net present value after tax was estimated at $437 million, at a 5% discount rate.
The open pit mine is projected to produce an average of 130,000 ounces of gold and 7.8 million ounces of silver per year, for a period of just over 12 years, at an average rate of 30,000 tonnes per day.