GoldMining Inc. (NYSE American: GLDG) announced results of an updated preliminary economic assessment for its La Mina Project in Colombia, showing an after-tax net present value of $1.0 billion and internal rate of return of 32.2%.

The assessment incorporates updated metal pricing assumptions of $3,500 per ounce for gold, $4.70 per pound for copper, and $40 per ounce for silver. At current spot prices of approximately $4,775 per ounce gold, $5.75 per pound copper, and $77 per ounce silver, the after-tax NPV increases to $1.8 billion with an IRR of 49.1%.

The project requires initial capital expenditures of $523.3 million for a conventional open-pit operation processing 15,000 tonnes per day over an 11.2-year mine life. The operation would produce an average of 152.4 thousand ounces of gold equivalent annually during the first five years, with total life-of-mine production of 1.5 million ounces gold equivalent.

The assessment contemplates mining 398.4 million tonnes of material at a strip ratio of 5.49:1, processing 61.3 million tonnes through conventional flotation and leach circuits. Metallurgical recoveries are projected at 91% for gold, 80% for copper, and 64% for silver.

Operating costs are estimated at $29.50 per tonne processed, with total cash costs of $872 per ounce gold and all-in sustaining costs of $1,045 per ounce gold on a by-product basis. Sustaining capital expenditures over the mine life are expected to total $166 million.

The project covers 3,208 hectares in Antioquia, Colombia, approximately 51 kilometers southwest of Medellin. The mineral resource estimate includes the La Cantera, La Garrucha, and Middle Zone porphyry deposits located within 1,000 meters of each other.

CEO Alastair Still stated the assessment "highlights the underlying quality of the La Mina porphyry gold-copper mineral system and represents just a small portion of and emphasizes the depth of the GoldMining portfolio of projects."

The preliminary economic assessment is based on a press release statement and includes inferred mineral resources, which are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied that would enable categorization as mineral reserves.