Vista Gold boosts resources at Mt. Todd

Vista Gold (vgz-t, vgz-x) is on a move to bring its Mt. Todd gold project in Australia’s Northern Territories to feasibility and permitting.

The company completed 15 holes in its 2010-11 drill program as part of the ongoing feasibility study and boosted gold resources at Mt. Todd’s Batman deposit by 1.23 million oz.

On Sept. 6, Vista said the Batman deposit now hosts 222 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.84 gram gold per tonne for 5.98 million contained ounces gold. It has another 103 million tonnes at 0.78 gram gold for 2.6 million contained ounces in inferred. The estimate is based on assays results from the recent 15 holes plus the previous 756 holes drilled by the project’s previous owners. The estimate uses a cutoff grade of 0.4 gram gold.

Federick Earnest, Vista’s president and COO, said the company is “very pleased” to announce another increase in gold resources and hopes that the new mine plan, which is being done as part of the feasibility study, will both enhance Mt. Todd’s economics and reserves.

The last time the Denver, Colo.-based company updated the deposit’s gold count was in January 2011 when it revised the pre-feasibility study. That study doubled reserves at the Batman deposit to 149.9 million tonnes grading 0.85 gram gold for 4.1 million contained ounces, compared to the 60 million reserve tonnes at 1.05 grams gold for 2 million oz. in the August 2010 prefeasibility study.  

While the company has strengthened Mt. Todd’s resource estimate, it is now working on the mine plan, met testing, water management, closure and reclamation plans. It is also tweaking the designs for the power generation facility, process, and tailings. Vista expects to have theses things done as part of the feasibility study, which should be wrapped up by year-end or early 2012. Along with the feasibility, the company is carrying out an environmental impact statement, and anticipates receiving an environmental permit by mid-2012.  

Vista is also currently drilling two of the four targets on Mt. Todd’s exploration licences, which cover more than 1,100 sq. km. It has planned 6,100 metres of exploration drilling on the four targets.

Since acquiring Mt. Todd in 2006 for about US$2.1 million from the Northern Territory government, few years after the project’s previous owner Pegasus Gold went bankrupt, the company has spent US$26 million on extensive drilling and metallurgical studies.

Based on the prefeasibility study, the project should generate 240,000 oz. gold a year over its 14-year life. Capital costs are anticipated at US$676 million.

While the debt-free company is busying working away in Australia, it is also permitting its Concordia gold project in Mexico. According to a September 2009 feasibility study, Concordia could produce an average of 127,400 oz. a year over its 10-year life.

Along with Mt. Todd and Concordia, Vista’s other gold properties include: the Awak Mas project in Indonesia, the Long Valley project in California, and the Guadalupe de los Reyes exploration project in Mexico. The company also owns 30% of Midas Gold (max-t), which has a sizable property in Idaho.  

At presstime, Vista Gold’s shares closed at $3.65, within a 52-week range of $2.30 (Dec. 31, 2010) to $4.55 (Sept. 14, 2011).