Perpetua Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: PPTA) (TSX: PPTA) (“Perpetua Resources” or “Perpetua” or the “Company”), announced today that following the successful completion of basic engineering for the Stibnite Gold Project (“Project”) along with the release of its 2024 Financial Update (“Financial Update”), the Company has approved commencement of detailed engineering studies with Ausenco Engineering USA South Inc. (“Ausenco”) and signed a procurement contract with Idaho Power Company (“Idaho Power”) for powerline materials. The Financial Update reconfirms the robust economics of the Project, indicating a $3.7 billion after-tax net present value (“NPV”) (5%) and an after-tax internal rate of return (“IRR”) in excess of 27% at spot prices and is resilient at lower prices including a $1.4 billion after-tax NPV (5%) and 15.4% after-tax IRR at long-term consensus prices, driven by industry leading operating costs. All-In Sustaining Costs (“AISC”) are expected to average $435 per gold ounce over the first four years of production and under $760 per gold ounce over the life-of-mine, positioning the Stibnite Gold Project to become the lowest cost gold project in the Tier 1 jurisdictions of the United States, Canada and Australia. The Financial Update is included in the Company’s current report on Form 8-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and Canadian securities regulators on February 13, 2025 (the “Current Report”).
“The Stibnite Gold Project is among an elite class of gold projects, with industry leading costs, a world-class reserve of 4.8 million gold ounces and annual production profile of approximately 300,000 ounces over a 15-year life,” said Jon Cherry, President & CEO of Perpetua Resources. “With the Final Record of Decision published and basic engineering complete, Perpetua looks forward to finalizing our few remaining ancillary permits, and securing financing to start construction in 2025 to become a reliable source of the critical mineral antimony for defense needs.”
As Perpetua advances towards a construction decision later this year, the Company has signed a procurement contract with Idaho Power to begin down payments on several critical long-lead power line items.
“We’re pleased to partner with Perpetua Resources to power the country’s next major mineral resource project right here in Idaho,” said Lisa Grow, President and CEO of Idaho Power. “This collaboration not only supports our nation’s economic growth but also strengthens our national security by ensuring a stable domestic supply of the critical mineral antimony. Our commitment to providing safe, reliable, affordable energy aligns with Perpetua’s mission to responsibly produce these essential minerals.”
The Financial Update is a key milestone to support Perpetua in formalizing its loan application process in connection with the U.S. Export-Import Bank (“EXIM”) $1.8 billion Letter of Interest received in April 2024 under the Make More in America and China Transformational Exports Programs. Perpetua believes that the increase by over 15% in the number of U.S. jobs created through the life of the Project indicated in the Financial Update and basic engineering work could support a corresponding increase to the existing $1.8 billion indication of interest from EXIM. The Company is well-advanced in its process to evaluate potential strategic and financing opportunities, supported by its financial advisors.
The Financial Update was prepared by the Company and is based, in part, on the basic engineering work completed to date using the fourth quarter of 2024 as a base date for cost estimates. It is intended to be read as a supplemental financial update to the Company’s technical report titled “Stibnite Gold Project, Feasibility Study Technical Report, Valley County, Idaho” dated effective December 22, 2020 and issued January 27, 2021 (the “2020 Feasibility Study”). Since the 2020 Feasibility Study, Perpetua has advanced the project design to a Basic Engineering level under our Basic and Value Engineering contract with Ausenco, with some ancillary scopes achieving more advanced status. The basic engineering cost estimates use the fourth quarter of 2024 as a base date. There are no changes to reported Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves in connection with the Financial Update or engineering work completed to date. Perpetua is concurrently advancing execution planning to prepare the Project to be construction-ready once all required permits are received.
