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TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 01/28/13 -- Atacama Pacific Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ATM) ("Atacama Pacific") is pleased to announce the results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for its 100% owned Cerro Maricunga oxide gold project located in Chile's Maricunga Mineral Belt. The PEA was prepared by NCL Ingenieria y Construccion SA ("NCL"), Santiago, Chile, in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects" ("NI 43-101").
Preliminary Economic Assessment Highlights (All amounts in US dollars)
-- Potential for average annual gold production, over the first five years, of 298,000 ounces-- Projected total gold production of 2.7 million ounces over a 10-year mine life-- Life of mine estimated operating cash costs of $652 per ounce gold ("/oz Au")-- Preliminary capital cost estimate of $514.6 million with sustaining capital of $249.0 millionThe PEA demonstrates the potential economic viability of the Cerro Maricungaproject as noted in Table 1.Table 1 - Economic Summary---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before Tax Case After Tax Case -------------------------------------------------- Base Spot Base Spot ($1,450/oz ($1,700/oz ($1,450/oz ($1,700/oz Au) Au) Au) Au)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IRR (%) 33.9% 51.2% 26.6% 40.5%----------------------------------------------------------------------------NPV 5% Discount (US$ M) $ 741 $ 1,247 $ 531 $ 923----------------------------------------------------------------------------Average Annual Cash Flow (US$ M) $ 189 $ 256 $ 161 $ 213----------------------------------------------------------------------------Payback Period (years) 2.5 1.7 3.1 2.2----------------------------------------------------------------------------Note - Assumes 100% equity financing"We are very pleased with the robust results from the PEA for our Cerro Maricunga oxide gold deposit," said Carl Hansen, President and CEO of Atacama Pacific. "With a processing rate of over 80,000 tonnes per day and the potential for average annual production of 298,000 ounces of gold over the first 5 years, Cerro Maricunga is globally one of the largest oxide gold projects under consideration for development. The high processing rate and positive metallurgical characteristics combined with a low 1.6 to 1 strip ratio, cost effective open pit mining and heap leach processing methods establish the potential for an economically strong project with quick payback on capital expenditures for a project of this scale. With the PEA completed, we will move forward towards a feasibility study and will examine the opportunities to potentially improve the results of the PEA by increasing the overall resource through additional drilling and leaching coarser crushed material in a valley-fill heap leach scenario."
