Apollo Silver reports Calico PEA with US$633M initial capital estimate
The California silver project has an estimated US$737 million after-tax net present value using a US$55-an-ounce price assumption.
Mara Quinlan
Apollo Silver Corp. CVEAPGO OTCMKTSAPGOF FRA6ZF reported on Thursday that its Calico preliminary economic assessment estimates initial capital of US$633 million at a silver price assumption of US$55 an ounce. The California development plan would produce about 5 million ounces annually over 15 years, under the preliminary mine plan.
Shares last closed higher at C$1.91 on the TSX Venture Exchange at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 28, according to Google Finance CVEAPGO, before the announcement.
The Oct. 29 assessment estimates after-tax net present value of US$737 million using a 5 per cent discount rate, with an internal rate of return of 25 per cent. Payback would take three years from production, and about 3 per cent of planned mill feed is inferred material.
Apollo proposes contract open-pit mining at Waterloo and an 8,000-tonne-per-day milling and cyanidation plant producing doré on site. Water, power and capital-input studies are under way as the company advances toward prefeasibility.
The October assessment's initial capital includes a 25 per cent contingency. Its capital table also lists sustaining investment, backfilling and closure, bringing total capital to US$715.159 million.
The study's sensitivity analysis shows the exposure to silver prices: at US$45 an ounce, after-tax net present value falls to US$347.955 million. The after-tax internal rate of return in that lower-price case is 16 per cent, while payback stretches to 3.9 years.
The October mine schedule prioritizes higher-grade feed in its first 10 years, averaging 100.8 grams per tonne silver. Lower-grade material would be stockpiled and processed later in the mine life.
The October study assumes average diluted mill-feed grades of 84.8 grams per tonne silver and recovery of 65 per cent. Estimated all-in sustaining costs are US$26.07 per payable ounce, a non-IFRS measure.
Total recovered silver over the October assessment's mine plan is estimated at 74.4 million ounces.
The updated resource is effective Oct. 1. Measured and indicated material totals 42.2 million tonnes grading 85.1 grams per tonne silver, containing 115.6 million ounces.
That compares with 125 million measured and indicated ounces in the June 30, 2025 estimate. Inferred resources in the new estimate total 24.1 million tonnes at 66.3 grams per tonne, containing 51.4 million ounces.
Langtry's 49.1 million inferred silver ounces and Waterloo's gold domain are excluded from the mine plan. Resources are not reserves and have no demonstrated economic viability; Apollo cautions that the assessment's results may not be realized.
Read more: Pinnacle Silver and Gold receives permit for 110 El Potrero drill sites
“Our focus now is de-risking: studies on water, power and capital inputs are under way, and we are advancing toward a prefeasibility study,” president and chief executive Colin Sutherland said in the release.
