New Pacific’s Carangas NPV uplift: capex, returns and risk notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
New Pacific Metals has lifted the Carangas silver-gold project’s after-tax NPV to US$2.65 billion in an updated PEA by Ausenco, outlining average annual output of nearly 18 million oz silver-equivalent over a 19-year mine life at projected all-in sustaining costs of US$19.16/oz. The study, based on US$45/oz silver and US$3,400/oz gold, delivers a 35.9% after-tax IRR, 2.4-year payback on US$644.5 million initial capex, and total production of 339 million silver-equivalent oz including 1.1 million oz gold. New Pacific plans a 30,000-metre infill drill programme while navigating Bolivia’s fuel, FX and permitting constraints.
Technical Brief
- Life-of-mine payable production totals 195 Moz silver, 1.1 Moz gold, 1.45 Blb zinc and 0.94 Blb lead.
- New Pacific plans 30,000 m of infill drilling to upgrade inferred resources to indicated for future studies.
- Conversion of current exploration licences into “administrative mining contracts” is a precondition for full development and long-term tenure.
- Environmental approvals hinge on initiating and completing a formal environmental impact assessment process under Bolivian regulations.
- BMO Capital Markets lifted its Carangas net asset value estimate by 13% on the back of higher throughput and added gold.
- Analyst commentary flags permitting risk and resource classification upgrades as the next key de-risking steps for the project.
- Country-level constraints include fuel shortages, foreign exchange controls, regulatory uncertainty and slow permitting, all affecting project execution planning.
Our Take
Ausenco’s role at Carangas aligns with its recent mandates on gold and copper projects like DeLamar (Idaho) and Hillside (South Australia), signalling that New Pacific Metals is tapping a contractor with a current track record of taking complex precious-metal projects through detailed engineering and EPCM stages.
With an after-tax IRR of 35.9% and a 2.4-year payback on US$644.5 million of initial capital, Carangas screens as a relatively high-return, mid-capex Latin American silver-gold project in our database, which is likely to appeal to lenders and stream/royalty financiers even in a higher-cost environment.
The polymetallic mix at Carangas (silver, gold, zinc, lead) contrasts with the lithium focus of Sigma Lithium also mentioned here, underlining how Bolivia’s project pipeline in our coverage is diversifying beyond brine lithium towards large-scale precious and base metal developments.
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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