Fredonia confirms low-cost startup potential for Argentine gold project - Mining Weekly

AI desk brief

Fredonia says its El Dorado Monserrat gold-silver project in Argentina can support a low-cost, capital-efficient startup, with the PEA outlining average annual output of 146,000 gold-equivalent ounces over a 17-year mine life. The base-case study estimates a post-tax NPV of $1.5bn and a 65% IRR, with life-of-mine cash costs around $1,630/oz and initial capex of roughly $346m.

The update also lifts the resource base materially: measured and indicated resources now stand at 126m tonnes grading 0.68 g/t gold-equivalent, equivalent to 2.7Moz contained, while inferred resources total 1.09Moz contained. The PEA assumes conventional open-pit truck-and-shovel mining with heap leach processing, and management argues the current mine plan only captures part of the broader property.

There is optional upside under Argentina’s RIGI regime, which could improve economics to an $1.8bn after-tax NPV and 82% IRR if the project qualifies, though that remains subject to tax validation. For metals, the headline takeaway is incremental future supply potential rather than immediate flow, but the scale and cost profile could matter if permitting and metallurgy continue to de-risk, especially given the project’s silver by-product credit and expansion potential beyond the current study.