The Tiger Deposit was discovered in 2007 and is distinct from the more recent larger scale Carlin-type discoveries located 100 km to the east, which remain the exploration focus of the Company.
The lead engineering firm for the PEA was Kappes Cassiday & Associates ("KCA") (metallurgy, processing, infrastructure, financial analysis) in cooperation with Tetra Tech, Inc. ("Tetra Tech") (mining), Giroux Consultants Ltd. (mineral resource), Resource Strategies (environmental and permitting) and Gerald G. Carlson, Ph.D., P.Eng. (history, geology, drilling). Unless specified otherwise, all values are shown in Canadian dollars, where 1 CAD = 0.92 USD.
PEA HIGHLIGHTS (using US$1,250 per ounce gold price):
• Conventional open-pit mining with single-stage, low intensity crushing
followed by size classification – no grinding or agglomeration needed;
• Life of mine ("LOM") production of 2.06 million tonnes of oxide material
at an average diluted grade of 3.72 g/t gold;
• Overall gold recoveries of 89.8% from hybrid heap-leach (87.8% recovery)
and agitated tank (91.0% recovery) carbon-in-leach ("CIL") process;
• Four year, seasonal operation with LOM production of 221,558 ounces of
gold;
• Pre-tax net present value ("NPV") of $52.1 million at a 5% discount rate
and internal rate of return ("IRR") of 30% with an all-in sustaining
cash cost of $626(i);
• At a US$1,350 per ounce gold price the pre-tax NPV increases to $72.6
million at a 5% discount rate and IRR of 39.5%; and,
• Pit slope engineering, Tiger Deposit infill drilling and exploration of
numerous untested nearby oxide targets have the potential to enhance the
value of the project economics.
"Although we remain focused on the Carlin-type gold targets 100 km to the east, we are very pleased with the results of the comprehensive Tiger Deposit PEA. It gives the Company a clear understanding of the potential viability and value of our first Rackla Gold Project discovery, and highlights the advantages of a rare high-grade, at surface, oxide gold deposit that is located in one of the most favourable mining jurisdictions in the world," states Graham Downs, CEO of ATAC. "The simplicity of the mining and processing combined with the approach of modular design and construction for the on-site facilities has resulted in an optimized development scenario for this size of deposit. Additional geotechnical and resource drilling at the Tiger Deposit combined with exploration drilling at over six untested satellite oxide targets has the potential to significantly enhance the PEA and the district potential of the Rackla Gold Project."
Project Description
The Tiger Deposit is located approximately 55 km northeast of Keno City, Yukon. Access to the Tiger Deposit would be by a proposed 51.6 km winter road that utilizes 24.6 km of the existing and permitted Wind River Winter Trail. The deposit is currently accessed by air via a 2,500 foot airstrip located 8 km from the deposit.
An owner-operated open-pit mine, with one year of pre-stripping followed by four years of production is envisioned in the PEA. Average annual production would be approximately 55,389 oz gold with year one production projected to be 78,500 oz gold. A total of 2.06 million tonnes of oxide material at an average diluted grade of 3.72 g/t would be extracted by hydraulic excavator. Based on a geotechnical study, no blasting of mineralized material would be necessary due to its highly weathered and sandy nature. Mining and stockpiling would take place year-round, while processing of mineralized material would occur during May through September (158 days annually) at a rate of 3,300 tonnes per day.
Processing has been designed to begin near the open-pit where material would be fed into a single skid-mounted low-intensity mineral sizer. Material would then be transported downhill by overland conveyor to a modular processing facility to be scrubbed and sized into two size fractions. The study proposes a hybrid approach where approximately 42% of the material (+0.212 mm) would be sent to the heap leach facility. The remaining 58% (finer material) would be sent to the CIL plant. A 50 day heap leach cycle has an estimated gold recovery of 87.8% while the retention time for the CIL plant is 24 hours with an estimated gold recovery of 91.0%.
All major project components for the Tiger Deposit would be engineered and constructed to achieve efficient closure. Heap leach cells would be built annually and progressively reclaimed, while the tailings facilities would be expanded annually and fully reclaimed at closure.
