AbraSilver aims to receive approval of the environmental impact assessment for its Diablillos project in Salta, Argentina, in about a year and to wrap up permitting in 12-18 months, chief executive John Miniotis told Mining Journal at the Commodities Global Expo 2024 in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, US.
AbraSilver aims to receive approval of the environmental impact assessment for its Diablillos project in Salta, Argentina, in about a year and to wrap up permitting in 12-18 months, chief executive John Miniotis told Mining Journal at the Commodities Global Expo 2024 in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, US.
"The EIA was submitted about a month ago, and it is the only one in the province at the moment, so we are at the top of the list . We are surrounded by lithium projects that are all built so there is a lot of permitting experience there," said Miniotis.AbraSilver has a March 2024 prefeasibility study for a 9000tpd operation to produce 13.3Mozpa of silver equivalent from a 123.4Moz reserve with an initial capital cost of US$373.5 million. Silver production will dominate in the early years, and gold in later years. "We will be a top 10 silver producer with lowest quartile costs, with an all-in sustaining cost of $12.50/oz. Our base case net present value of $494 million, which is $1.3 billion at spot metal prices, with an internal rate of return of 47%," said Miniotis.Drilling at the extension of JAC zone announced today included a highlight of 50m grading 250gpt silver, including an interval of 5m grading 1036gpt.The potential at Diablillos intrigued Kinross Gold enough to make its first-ever investment in Argentina, taking a 5% stake in the junior in April and opening an office there. Kinross may be attracted to the copper and gold potential at depth, where AbraSilver has hit 20-40m grading 2% copper at 500-600m depth below the Oculto deposit, as well as at the nearby Cerro Viejo and Cerro Blanco porphyry targets. The company has $20 million in its treasury and a 20,000m drilling programme underway, which will include the first holes in the Cerro Viejo porphyry target that Kinross wants drilled. An initial exploration hole is underway 3.5km northeast of Oculto in Cerro Viejo to test the potential for a large copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry system. A minimum of three priority holes have been selected to be drilled targeting coincident chargeability and resistivity zones."There is a big resistivity anomaly and a changeability anomaly. We are targeting copper and gold mineralisation and we are drilling it to know what we have. If we are successful, we would likely bring a partner in to continue drilling it," said Miniotis.PFS updateWith the silver price charging to 12-year highs of more than $34/oz, Abra plans to update its PFS before year end to include a refined mine plan developed by Whittle Consulting, a more up to date metals price deck, and the positive impacts on project economics of the recently passed RIGI available for projects in excess of $200 million of capital spend. RIGI is a landmark piece of legislation by president Javier Milei to attract foreign direct investment to Argentina. Companie have to apply for the RIGI benefits within the next two years, and once accepted into the programme, have to spend 50% of the agreed capital within two years. "Our March PFS doesn't include RIGI changes, which includes tax benefits, no foreign exchange restrictions, export duty exemptions and accelerated depreciation. The lower tax rate will save us an estimated $150 million, and the export duty exemptions will save us $184m. Overall, we think we will save more than $300 million," said Miniotis.By end of 2025, Abra aims to have updated the Diablillos resource, have a feasibility, and EIA permits in place. A construction decision could happen in 2026.AbraSilver Resource shares have increased in value by 83% this year. They are trading at C$3.07, valuing the company at C$385 million.
Diablillos Javier Milei RIGI Commodities Global Expo 2024
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