Lahontan Gold Releases Results of Preliminary Economic Assessment on Santa Fe Mine Gold-Silver Project

12:30 PM EDT, 10/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Lahontan Gold (LG.V) on Wednesday said a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on its flagship Santa Fe Mine gold-silver project in Nevada showed the site can support a $172-million mining project. The PEA showed post-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $820 million and an internal rate of return of 40.1%, based on the PEA base-case metal prices of $3,600/oz gold and $49/oz silver, the company said Wednesday. "The results of the updated Santa Fe Mine PEA demonstrate the significant economic potential of this project," said Chief Executive Officer Kimberly Ann. "The base-case post-tax NPV5 of US$820 million represents an increase of more than fourteen-fold compared with the 2024 PEA (US$56.5 million), with a projected IRR of 40.1% over an 11-year active mine life and average annual production of nearly 92,000 gold-equivalent ounces." The preliminary economic assessment also showed average annual production of approximately 91,900 gold-equivalent ounces, comprising approximately 88,300 ounces of gold and 254,000 ounces of silver, as well as estimated gold cash costs of $1,909/oz and all-in sustaining costs of $2,250/oz, said the company. "Production is expected to exceed 120,000 gold-equivalent ounces in four years of the mine plan," said Kimberly Ann. The PEA also showed estimated life-of-mine net cash flow of $1.68 billion before taxes and $1.32 billion after taxes over an 11-year active mine life, followed by one year of residual leaching, added the company. "The mine plan and production schedule developed for the PEA will inform the final Mine Plan of Operations ("MPOO") to be submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("BLM")," added the CEO. "Environmental baseline studies have been completed, and Lahontan expects to obtain the federal and state permits required for mine construction in 2027." The company's shares were last seen down CA$0.04, or 10%, to CA$0.35 on the TSX Venture Exchange. Price: 0.35, Change: -0.04, Percent Change: -10.26