West High pegs MgO plant posttax NPV at $871.8M (U.S.)

Dec 1, 2022

2022-11-29 10:50 ET – News Release

Mr. Frank Marasco reports

WEST HIGH YIELD (W.H.Y.) RESOURCES LTD. ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF POSITIVE PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR MAGNESIUM OXIDE PRODUCTION PLANT

West High Yield (WHY) Resources Ltd. has released the results from its PFS for its high-purity MgO industrial production plant (“the Project”), prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) with cost accuracy of +/- 20% for the Company’s Record Ridge property located 10 kilometers southwest of Rossland, British Columbia (the “Record Ridge Property”), which is an intermediate-advanced exploration-stage project and is 100% owned by the Company. All figures are expressed in the currency of the United States of America unless otherwise stated.

Key Pre-feasibility Study highlights:

Robust Project Economics: Post-tax net present value (“NPV”) (discount rate 5%) of $871.8 million and post-tax internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 72.03% using a long-term magnesia (“MgO”) baseline price of $1,500/metric tonne (“Mt”) and an exchange rate of CAD$1.00 = US$0.73;
Production profile: Annual average production of 86,500 tonnes of 98% purity MgO product at capacity;
Low capital intensity: Initial capital expenditures (“CAPEX”) of $205.4 million including mine preproduction, processing, and infrastructure (access roads and site preparation);
Competitive cost profile and rapid payback: All-in-Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) of $375/Mt of MgO product, a post-tax payback of 1.5 years, with $1,489 million cumulated cash flow and $871 million discounted cumulated cash flow over 20-year projected life of the project for the purposes of the PFS.

*Based on 250K tonnes per annum of ore throughout.

Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc. (“KPM”), a company based out of Kingston, Ontario, in consultation with KON Chemical Solutions and Tenova (both companies are based in Austria), was mandated to establish the technical viability of a MgO production facility, to prepare plan and capital estimates of the Project, and to provide detailed design and economic evaluation of a semi-commercial demonstration plant, in addition to a high-level design and economic evaluation of a commercial plant at a location to be determined in southern British Columbia, Canada. The financial model of the Project was prepared by Bumigeme Inc., a company based out of Montreal, Quebec based on (i) information provided to them by the Company, as received from KPM, and (ii) MgO market study prepared for the Company by TAK Industrial Mineral Consultancy (existing under the laws of the United Kingdom). The findings from the aforesaid assessments and models are highlighted in the Study.

Frank Marasco, President and CEO of the Company, reports: “The MgO production Project described by the Study represents extremely positive news for West High Yield and its shareholders. The Study’s completion is a significant milestone on the pathway to production. The results as outlined in this news release make a compelling case for the economic viability of the Project. The Company’s high-purity MgO plant would create a carbon-free alternative to the currently dominating operations in China that are based on the calcination of carbonate ores (mainly magnesite), thus providing U.S. and European end users a green, secure and independent Canadian source of high purity MgO products. The PFS demonstrates the economic benefit of developing magnesium compounds operation in southern B.C. – a mining-friendly jurisdiction with deep mining talent and exceptional infrastructure.”

Study Overview

The Study considered a MgO commercial plant of 250,000 Mt/year ore capacity (the “Plant”), which is based on the installation of five (5) processing modules of 50,000 Mt/year ore capacity (each module called a “Unit”). The Study produced the following information:

A detailed design and economic evaluation including capital and operating costs of a demonstration plant;
A high-level design and economic evaluation including capital and operating costs of the Plant;
Economic analysis of the Plant.

The Study considered the capital costs of the Plant to be about $205 million with operating costs of $375/Mt of MgO product, which included mining costs, processing costs, and mine and plant levels general and administrative expenses.

Project Economics

The economic analysis of the Project in the PFS was performed assuming a 5% discount rate. On a pre-tax basis, the NPV is $993.5 million, the IRR is 80.1% and the payback period is 1.34 years. On a post-tax basis, the NPV is $872 million, the IRR is 72.0% and the payback period is 3.5 years. A summary of the Project economics is listed in Table 3 below.

Sensitivity Analysis

A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the base case after-tax NPV and IRR of the Project, using the following variables: MgO price, total CAPEX and total operating cost. The figure and table below (found on page 47 of the Study) provide a summary.

Two-factor sensitivity price and discount rate shows a positive valuation is maintained across a wide range of sensitivities on key assumptions such as MgO prices and discount rate, as in Table 4 below (found on page 47 of the Study).

Plant Design

The Study provided detailed design of the demonstration plant and a high-level design of the Plant, which included detailed process flow diagrams and process description, and plant mass and energy balance for both plants.

More Information

For additional information, please refer to the Study available on the Company website and filed on SEDAR under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com which contains more comprehensive technical information.

Qualified Person

Kevin Watson is an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101 and has reviewed and approved Sections 17 and 21 of the Study..

Florent Baril is an independent Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101 and has reviewed and approved Section 22 of the Study..

Next Steps

Following the release of this PFS, the Company will move the semi-commercial demonstration project forward, which is a crucial step to provide the necessary bridging work for the commencement of the feasibility-level studies for the successful development of the Plant.

About West High Yield

West High Yield is a publicly traded junior mining exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in Canada with a primary objective to develop its Record Ridge magnesium, silica, and nickel deposit using green processing techniques to minimize waste and CO2 emissions.

The Company’s Record Ridge magnesium deposit located 10 kilometers southwest of Rossland, British Columbia has approximately 10.6 million tonnes of contained magnesium based on an independently produced preliminary economic assessment technical report prepared by SRK in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

We seek Safe Harbor.

http://www.whyresources.com/