International Tower Hill’s Livengood gold project: capex, risk and upside for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
International Tower Hill Mines has raised $118 million for its Livengood gold project in Alaska, including a $40 million private placement and an extra $3.3 million from hedge fund Paulson & Co., lifting Paulson’s stake to 35% at US$2.22 per share. The 2023 technical report pegs initial capex at US$1.93 billion with an after-tax NPV of US$2.35 billion at US$2,500/oz gold, but shows the project becomes marginal with modest price declines. About US$50 million is earmarked for feasibility and technical studies and US$35 million for permitting and community engagement, with additional metallurgical work planned on antimony recovery from stibnite veins.
Technical Brief
- Livengood’s 2023 technical report reconfirms strong gold price sensitivity, echoing earlier uneconomic outcomes in 2017 work.
- New funding includes US$74.8 million raised via common shares at US$2.22 on US markets.
- Paulson’s additional US$3.3 million top‑up follows a US$40 million private placement at identical pricing.
- Initial metallurgical testwork indicates antimony in stibnite veins is potentially recoverable, justifying expanded test campaigns.
- Planned metallurgical programme will compare alternative flowsheets, flotation regimes and concentrate quality for antimony by‑product.
- Livengood’s owner budgeted only ~US$3 million across 2024–2025 for environmental and community work pre‑financing.
Our Take
With International Tower Hill Mines now at a market capitalisation of about US$760 million and an initial capex of US$1.93 billion at Livengood, the project still sits in the high capex-to-equity bracket seen in our gold project coverage, implying continued dependence on strategic investors like Paulson and Co. or future debt packages to close the funding gap.
The earmarking of US$35 million for permitting and community engagement in Alaska is materially larger than what many single-asset gold developers in our database allocate at this stage, signalling that social licence and regulatory de-risking are being treated as core value drivers rather than ancillary costs.
Paulson and Co.’s 35% stake in International Tower Hill Mines alongside a 40% position in the Donlin project creates a concentrated exposure to large-scale Alaskan gold, which in our coverage tends to give such investors outsized influence over development pacing, study scopes, and eventual build-versus-sell decisions.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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