Prodigy Gold Inc TSXV:PDG announced an updated preliminary economic assessment for its Magino Gold Project in northern Ontario. The report assumes a gold price of $1,200 an ounce and estimates resources to be 74.23 million tonnes grading 1.15 g/t gold with a strip ratio of 2.1:1. The pre-production capital cost is estimated at $405.6 million. The mine life is estimated at 11 years averaging 249,300 ounces gold annually, totalling over 2.61 million ounces at an average cash cost of $461 an ounce. At a 5% discount rate, the project is calculated to have a pre-tax net present value of $939 million. At an 8% discount rate, the NPV comes to $709 million. In the base case scenario the internal rate of return is 36% with a payback period of 1.9 years.

President/CEO Brian J. Maher commented, “This update to the Magino Mine PEA highlights a significant increase in the scope of our proposed mining operation. The proposed mill expansion to 20,000 tpd allows Prodigy to expand the Magino gold production profile to 249,300 ounces of gold per year, establishing the project as one of the larger proposed gold mining operations in North America. The PEA will serve as the template for a full feasibility study, expected to be completed in 2012. The results of the PEA validate our operational model for Magino and the company looks forward to rapidly advancing the project in the coming year.