05:40 PM EDT, 10/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- New Pacific Metals Corp. ( NEWP ) was at last look up 1.35% in US after hours on Tuesday as it reported the results of its Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Carangas project in Oruro Department, Bolivia.

In a statement it cited highlights from the PEA, including post-tax net present value (5%) of US$501 million and internal rate of return of 26% at a base case price of $24.00/oz silver, $1.25/lb zinc, and $0.95/lb lead; and NPV and IRR of $748 million and 34%, respectively, at $30/oz silver.

It also highlighted a 16-year life of mine, excluding 2 years of preproduction, producing approximately 106 million oz of payable silver, 620 million pounds of payable zinc and 382 Mlbs of payable lead. This included payable silver production of approximately 8.5 Moz per year in years one through six; with LOM average silver production exceeding 6.5 Moz per year.

Other highlights include: Initial capital costs of $324 million and a post-tax payback of 3.2 years; Average LOM all-in sustaining cost of $7.60/oz silver, net of by-products; and near 500 direct permanent jobs to be created from the project.

"The PEA for the Carangas project marks a significant milestone for our company, outlining a robust, high-margin project with strong economics. By focusing our efforts on a discrete, near surface, subset of silver rich material we were able to define a project with a post-tax NPV of $501 million, an IRR of 26% and an initial capital expenditure of $324 million," said Andrew Williams, CEO and President.

"This study not only underscores the quality of this asset but also highlights the exceptional work of our team who discovered this greenfield project only three years ago. While Silver Sand remains our flagship asset, Carangas has become a significant standalone project for our Company. Carangas provides balance and scale to our portfolio of quality silver projects in Bolivia.