SILVERCREST MINES INC. (TSXV:SVL): FOLLOW-UP NO 7 / July 1, 2008
| SILVERCREST MINES INC: RETURN ON CAD 20,000 INVESTMENT | |||||
| Purchase Date | No. of Shares | Purchase Price | Cost (CAD) | Price Today | Value Today |
| February 26, 2004 | 6'500 | 1.55 | 10'075 | ||
| September 14, 2004 | 15'000 | 0.69 | 10'350 | ||
| Total | 21'500 | 0.95 | 20'425 | 1.12 | 24'080.00 |
| Profit | 3'655.00 | ||||
| Profit in % | 18% | ||||
| SHARES OUTSTANDING FULLY DILUTED | MARKET CAP |
| 44,699,489 / 53,324,570 | CAD 48.7 MILLION |
| 52 WEEK LOW / HIGH | TSXV |
| CAD 0.62 to 1.52 | 98,100 (200-day) |
| RECOMMENDATION | RISK RATING |
| BUY | HIGH |
HIGH GRADE SILVER DEPOSITS IN EL SALVADOR AND MEXICO
Business Summary
SilverCrest Mines Inc. is an exploration and development company with a portfolio of high grade silver-gold deposits and exploration properties located in Mexico and El Salvador.
The Company's long term initiative is to acquire, develop and operate high grade open pit silver-gold mines throughout North, South and Central America. Primary targets will be silver-gold projects that are amenable to accelerated development and early production.
Projects
El Salvador: El Zapote Project
SilverCrest has a 100% interest in mineral concessions located in northern El Salvador. The property is at the feasibility stage where it has, among other things, established mineable reserves, optimize process design (conventional mill or heap leach), verify capital and operating costs and evaluate the economic viability of the project.
Detailed drilling has now delineated the Cerro Colorado III and partially delineated the San Casimiro and Tajado deposits. These are three of several known deposits within the El Zapote concession.
The resources for the project, which includes resources for the Tajado deposit, are presented below:
Mexican Projects
The Santa Elena Project
is located approximately 150 kilometres northeast of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and is easily accessible with excellent local infrastructure. The Company has the right to acquire a 100% interest in the Santa Elena property by making staged option payments over a period of 5 years.
Indicated Resources are now estimated at 7.4 million tonnes grading 1.81 gpt Au and 74.2 gpt Ag and contain 428,700 ounces of gold and 17.6 million ounces of silver based on a 0.5 gpt gold equivalent cut-off grade.
Inferred Resources are estimated at 2.6 million tonnes grading 1.37 gpt Au and 73.06 gpt Ag and contain 114,800 ounces of gold and 6.1 million ounces of silver.
The resource statements for Santa Elena are based on recent and historical information collected by SilverCrest Mines and previous operators between 2002 to present. The most significant components of the data are the compiled results from 40 drill holes (5,852 metres) as well as analyses of 71 surface trenching and underground channel samples.
Cruz de Mayo
Indicated Resources are estimated at 1.1 million tonnes grading 64.15 gpt Ag and contain 2.3 million ounces of silver based on a 30 gpt silver cut-off grade.
Inferred Resources are estimated at 6.0 million tonnes grading 66.5 gpt Ag, and contain 12.9 million ounces of silver. The gold resource estimate is still pending. The average uncut gold grade is approximately 0.1 gpt Au.
The resource statements for Cruz de Mayo are based on recent information collected by SilverCrest Mines in 2006 and 2007. The most significant components of the data are the compiled results from 50 drill holes (5,096.3 metres).
Recent News: SilverCrest completes Santa Elena prefeasibility study
SILVERCREST PRE-FEASIBILITY RESULTS AT SANTA ELENA, MEXICO, PROVEN AND PROBABLE RESERVES ESTABLISHED, 100% PRE-TAX INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN, US $103.7 MILLION PRE-TAX CASH FLOW
SilverCrest Mines Inc. announced the results for the Pre-Feasibility Study on its Santa Elena open pit gold and silver mine in Sonora, Mexico. The study has converted approximately 73% of the project's Indicated Mineral Resources to Proven and Probable Reserves. The Base Case economics show a pre-tax Internal Rate of Return of 100% and a pre-tax cash flow of US$103.7 million.
The payback period for the initial capital of US$20 million is approximately 12 months.
The open pit heap leach operation will process ore at a rate of 2,500 tonnes per day and is expected to produce an average of 30,000 ounces of gold and 500,000 ounces of silver per year for an estimated mine life of 8 years.
For the Base Case, the average net cash flow (pre-tax) is approximately US$10 million per year over the mine life. After initial capital payback, average net cash flow (pre-tax) for each of years 2 and 3 is projected to be greater than US$20 million. The potential underground operation with possible conventional milling has not been included in this evaluation.
Fundamental Considerations
Comparison with a Peer Group
SilverCrest compares very favourably based on market capitalisation per ounce of silver equivalent.
The market cap of $ 48.7 million divided by 56.3 million ounces of silver equivalent of all categories equals $ 0.87, well below the cheapest stock listed above.
Valuation based on Production Forecast
Above table shows what market capitalisation a company should reach once they are producing gold and silver. SilverCrest has now just completed its Pre-Feasibility Study based on which the production of the first year should reach 2 million ounces silver equivalent.
Once the goal of production is reached, the market cap of SilverCrest should at least double. The price potential however is likely much higher, depending on higher metal prices and success on the exploration front.
Technical Considerations
THE TIMELESS PRECIOUS METAL FUND
is a shareholder in the company and will benefit from any increase in the company's share price.
Disclosure: The author has not been paid to write this article, nor has he received any other inducement to do so. The author is a shareholder in the company and will benefit from any increase in the company's share price.
Disclaimer: The author's objective in writing this article is to invoke an interest on the part of potential investors in this stock to the point where they are encouraged to conduct their own further diligent research. Neither the information nor the opinions expressed should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell this stock. Investors are recommended to obtain the advice of a qualified investment advisor before entering into any transactions in the stock.
