Talamore road permit for Coffee gold project: capex and access lens for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Talamore Mining has secured the final major permit for the 214 km all-season Northern Access Route to the Coffee gold project in Yukon, enabling construction of the remaining 29 km link from Dawson City to the existing 180 km road. Backed by a C$638 million financing package and a PEA road cost estimate of C$71.3 million, the open-pit, heap-leach project is scoped for average production of 249,000 oz. gold per year over its first five full years at all-in sustaining costs of C$1,274/oz. The PEA outlines initial capex of $983 million, an after-tax NPV5 of $2.3 billion, a 48% IRR and a 1.7-year payback at a $3,620/oz. gold price, with a feasibility study by G Mining Services due in Q1 and quartz mining and Type A water licences still pending.
Technical Brief
- Financing package totals C$638 million, including C$400 million secured debt and C$149.5 million equity.
- Up to $88 million of additional funding is expected from warrant exercises tied to the July financing.
- Public comment period for the Type A water licence closes on 15 September, constraining approval timelines.
- Quartz mining licence is in the detailed information-request phase, with approvals targeted before investment decision.
- G Mining Services’ feasibility study will incorporate 20,000 m of infill drilling at the higher-grade Supremo Extension.
- Coffee hosts 80 Mt measured and indicated at 1.15 g/t Au (2.96 Moz) plus 21.2 Mt inferred at 1.17 g/t (0.8 Moz).
- Newmont retains ~19% equity and a 3% net smelter return royalty; Agnico Eagle holds ~8% of Talamore.
- Acquisition from Newmont was valued at up to C$150 million for the ~700 km² Coffee property package.
- Coffee’s scale and heap-leach route place it among roughly a dozen largest undeveloped primary gold projects in Canada.
Our Take
With initial capital costs of C$983 million against an after-tax NPV5 of C$2.3 billion and a 48% IRR, Coffee’s economics place Talamore at the aggressive end of Yukon gold project returns in our database, which is likely to support continued access to syndicate and bank debt despite jurisdictional and infrastructure risk.
The 214 km Northern Access Route, of which only 29 km is new build, means road execution risk is more about upgrading and maintaining existing corridors than greenfield construction, a profile that has typically led to fewer schedule overruns in other remote Canadian gold projects in our coverage.
JDS Energy & Mining’s role here echoes its project and construction management mandate at Osisko Development’s Cariboo gold project (2026 agreement), signalling that mid-tier Canadian gold developers are consolidating around a small group of EPCM providers for complex road-and-plant builds.
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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