. All dollar figures in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated
October 31, 2018 – Vancouver, BC – Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX-V: EQX, OTC: EQXFF) (“Equinox Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has released its unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (“Q3 Financial Statements”) and related management’s discussion and analysis (“Q3 MD&A”) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 (“Q3-2018” or the “Quarter”).
Equinox Gold completed its acquisition of the Mesquite Gold Mine in California, USA (“Mesquite”) from New Gold Inc. (“New Gold”) on October 30, 2018, immediately establishing Equinox Gold as a gold producer. The Company’s principal assets now include Mesquite, its construction-stage Aurizona Gold Mine in Maranhão, Brazil (“Aurizona”) and its prefeasibility-stage Castle Mountain Gold Mine in California, USA (“Castle Mountain”).
Highlights of third quarter and recent developments are summarized below.
Third Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights and Recent Developments
Aurizona construction progress as at September 30, 2018
First gold pour is expected during Q1-2019 and the project is on track to achieve commercial production around the end of Q1-2019
Overall project 80% complete
Pre-production mining is 70% complete
Processing plant is 84% complete, including engineering, procurement and construction
Engineering is 100% complete and procurement activities are 95% complete
Concrete work is virtually complete and structural steel erection is 83% complete
Powerline sub-station upgrades substantially complete
Installation focus now on piping, electrical and instrumentation
Operational readiness preparations and commissioning planning well advanced
Mining progressing on schedule
More than 4 million tonnes of material moved
270,000 tonnes of ore stockpiled
Construction remains fully funded
$98 million of $146 million project budget spent
Unrestricted cash on hand of $23.5 million
Undrawn debt facilities of $42 million
Castle Mountain prefeasibility study completed
16-year mine life
$763 per oz life of mine (“LOM”) all-in sustaining costs (“AISC”)
$865 million after-tax LOM cumulative cash flow
$406 million after-tax net present value discounted at 5% (“NPV5%”)
Two-phase development plan
Phase 1 operations by early 2020 with average 45,000 oz/year production
Phase 2 operations by 2023 with average 203,000 oz/year production, subject to permitting
Mesquite Mine acquisition completed October 30, 2018
Producing open-pit heap leach gold mine located in California, 200 miles south of Castle Mountain
Average annual production of 135,000 oz of gold over the last ten years
$158 million cash consideration paid to New Gold funded by:
$100 million credit facility from Bank of Nova Scotia and a group of lenders
$20 million credit facility from Sprott Private Resource Lending (Collector), L.P.
Approximately $75 million (C$97.5 million) equity private placement at C$0.95 per share
$25 million (C$32.5 million) brokered bought deal private placement
$50 million (C$65.0 million) non-brokered private placement
Aurizona exploration
12 holes drilled in Tatajuba, the western extension of the main Piaba Trend that hosts Aurizona
Gold mineralization extended to depths up to 150 metres (“m”) from surface
Confirmed continuity of mineralization into the deeper fresh rock
Each of the 12 drill holes (1,804 m) intersected the gold zone, including:
1.25 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) over 44.0 m and 4.37 g/t Au over 38.0 m in hole D644
1.36 g/t Au over 37.0 m in hole D645
Ongoing work on the underground potential at Piaba and an updated resource estimate
Divestiture of non-core assets
Spin-out of copper assets to create Solaris Copper Inc.
Sale of Koricancha Mill for proceeds of $12.1 million
Additional information regarding the Company’s financial results, activities underway at Mesquite, Aurizona and Castle Mountain and the Company’s long-term business strategy is available in the Q3 Financial Statements and accompanying Q3 MD&A, which are available for download on the Company’s website at www.equinoxgold.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Equinox Gold Corp.
“Christian Milau”
CEO & Director
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