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J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 53 MINING said Joseph Ovsenek, President and CEO of Pretium. "We made significant prog- ress in the quarter towards achieving our 3,800 tonnes/day production rate target at Brucejack and with increased acces- sibility from continued underground development; we have established a solid foundation for operating effectively at our higher target rate." Pretium recently announced that Executive Chairman and founding share - holder, Dr. Robert Quartermain, will be retiring from the company effective December 21, 2019. Pretium's Board of Directors has undertaken a succession plan to ensure a smooth transition and will elect a new Chair prior to year-end. Financially, first quarter revenues hit US $103.1 million based on 81,434 ounces of gold at an average realized gold price of US $1,257/oz. During the comparable quarter last year, the company sold 68,651 oz gold at a gold price of US $1,271/oz, generating US $89.4 million in revenue. Net earnings were US $4.2 million, or $0.02 per share and adjusted earnings were US $16.5 mil - lion or $0.09 per share. On a cost/tonne basis, total production costs were pegged at US $180/tonne com- pared with US $211/tonne last comparable quarter. Looking ahead, Brucejack is expected to produce 390,000-420,000 ounces gold in 2019. Production is expected to average 3,500 tpd in 2019 ramping up to 3,800 tpd by year end. Both average grade and ton - nage produced are anticipated to increase during the second half of 2019. The com- pany expects gold grades to average 10.4 g/t over the course of 2019. AISC are antic- ipated to range between US $775 and US $875/oz gold sold for 2019. "When you combine our low costs with our significant gold production, we gener- ate substantial cash flow," said Ovsenek. "During the first quarter we continued our track record of positive cash flows and profitability as we have every quarter since achieving commercial production on July 1, 2017." Pretium tabled an updated mineral resource and reserve estimate in April. At a production rate of 3,800 tpd, Brucejack has a 14-year mine life with proven and prob - able gold reserves of 6.4 million ounces averaging 12.6 g/t gold. Using US $1,300/ oz gold price, the mine has an after tax NPV (5% discount rate) of US $2.6 billion. The updated plan increases throughput that reduces the projected mine life to 14 years from the previous 18-year estimate. Over the next five years the company expects Brucejack to produce gold an average rate of 520,000 oz/year at All-in Sustaining Costs of US $615/oz gold sold. Cash flows over this time period are esti - mated to tally to over US $1.7 billion averaging US $350 million per year. "As we ramp up production to 3,800 tpd, we are also looking to optimize our mining operations," stated Ovsenek. "We have observed that high-grade gold occurs in corridors 10-to-15 metres wide within the quartz stockwork. With an improved understanding of the geology and the con - trols of gold mineralization we are now evaluating longitudinal long-hole stoping; mining along the direction of the miner- alization rather than perpendicular to the mineralization." The mine has completed four longitu- dinal long-hole test stopes so far and is in the process of testing two more. If this method is successful, Pretium expects it will reduce the amount of internal dilu- tion in their stopes and smooth out grade variability. The company also anticipates a reduction in development costs since they will be developing in ore, as opposed to waste rock. If Pretium decides to move to longitudinal long-hole stoping, it will update its resources and reserves as well as its life-of-mine plan in Q1 next year. Pretium intends to continue to add ounces to the mine's resource and reserve base this year. The Valley of the Kings deposit remains open at depth, to the west and to the east for resource and reserve expansion. A 70,000-metre underground drill program began early in Q1 with the goal of increasing confidence in the indi - cated and inferred resources and converting FAR LEFT: Miners set up the electrical wiring for a blast at the Brucejack Mine. LEFT: The Brucejack underground gold mine located about 65 km northwest of Stewart, northwestern British Columbia. Photos courtesy Pretium Resources Inc.