Sonoro Gold Corp. (TSX-V: SGO) (OTCQB: SMOFF) (FRA: 23SP) is pleased to announce the results of an independent updated Mineral Resource Estimate and updated Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Company’s Cerro Caliche gold project located in Sonora State, Mexico. The PEA demonstrates the potential viability for a ten-year life of mine, open pit, heap leach mining operation with an initial one-year ramp up production rate of 12,000 tonnes per day and an increase to 16,000 tpd for the remaining LOM. All currency is stated as USD.
The updated MRE and PEA have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 by P&E Mining Consultants Inc., of Brampton, Ontario.
Updated PEA Highlights:
Note: All currencies are reported in U.S. dollars. Base case parameters assume $3,500/oz gold and $48/oz silver.
(1) Cash operating costs include mining, crushing, processing, assaying, administration and royalties.
(2) All-in-Sustaining Costs include cash costs plus sustaining capital and reclamation costs.
“This updated PEA and MRE clearly illustrates a significant increase in value of the Cerro Caliche project as a result of higher gold prices and a revised mine plan with increased production rates,”said Kenneth MacLeod, President and CEO of Sonoro Gold. “With less than 30% of the known mineralized zones at the original Cerro Caliche concession drilled and assayed to date and the recent near-tripling of the concession size to the north and south, the potential for future expansion of the proposed mine, both in capacity and LOM, are considered to be favourable.”
Updated Mineral Resource Estimate
Mineral Resources are estimated using a three-dimensional block model with a block size of 5 x 5 x 5 m. Drill holes, collared from surface, penetrate the steeply dipping mineralized zones to depths of generally within 125 m below surface, however, several drill holes have intersected gold mineralization to depths approaching 200 m below surface.
The Mineral Resource Estimate was generated using drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geological model which relates to the spatial distribution of gold and silver. Interpolation characteristics are defined based on the geology, drill hole spacing, and geostatistical analysis of the data. The effects of outlying high-grade sample data, composited to 1.52 m intervals, were controlled by traditional capping of the composites.
Block grades were estimated using Inverse Distance Cubed (“ID3”) and have been validated using a combination of visual and statistical methods. Estimated blocks within 30 m of three or more drill holes were classified as Measured Mineral Resources, and blocks within 60 m of two or more drill holes were classified as Indicated Mineral Resources. Blocks within 120 m of a drill hole were classified as Inferred Mineral Resources.
Subsequent to the initial classification, blocks were re-classified using a maximum a-posteriori selection pass that corrected isolated classification artifacts and consolidated areas of similar classification into continuous shapes. The Mineral Resource Estimate has an effective date of December 4, 2025.
The updated PEA utilizes the pit-constrained updated Mineral Resource Estimate prepared by P&E.
| Mineral Resource Estimate(1-7) | |||||||
| Classification | Tonnes k |
Au g/t |
Au koz |
Ag g/t |
Ag koz |
AuEq g/t |
AuEq koz |
| Measured | 9,683 | 0.41 | 129 | 3.5 | 1,086 | 0.43 | 133 |
| Indicated | 42,070 | 0.36 | 489 | 3.8 | 5,144 | 0.38 | 511 |
| Meas + Ind | 51,752 | 0.37 | 617 | 3.7 | 6,230 | 0.39 | 644 |
| Inferred | 8,801 | 0.33 | 93 | 3.7 | 1,040 | 0.34 | 97 |
Updated PEA Summary
The updated PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the updated PEA will be realized.
Table 1: Key Economic Parameters
| Assumption / Results | PEA Value |
| Pre-Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $360M |
| Pre-Tax IRR (%) | 65% |
| After- Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $224M |
| After- Tax IRR (%) | 50% |
| Revenues ($ million) | $1,602M |
| Total Tonnes Processed (million) | 52.8M |
| Total Tonnes Waste Mined (million) | 82.1M |
| Mine Life (years) | 10 |
| Strip Ratio (waste: mineralization) | 1.6 |
| Gold Recovery (%) | 72% |
| Silver Recovery (%) | 27% |
| Gold Price ($/Au oz) | $3,500 |
| Silver Price ($/Ag oz) | $48 |
| Gold Grade (g/t Au) | 0.36 |
| Gold Equivalent Grade (g/t AuEq) | 0.38 |
| Silver Grade (g/t Ag) | 3.7 |
| Total Gold Equivalent Recovered (koz) | 459 k |
| Initial CAPEX Costs ($ million) | $83M |
| Sustaining Capital Costs ($ million) | $26M |
| LOM Operating Costs ($ million) | $820M |
| LOM Operating Cost ($/tonne processed) | $15.54 |
| Cash Operating Cost ($/AuEq oz) | $1,842 |
| AISC ($/AuEq oz) | $1,902 |
Table 2: Gold & Silver Price Sensitivity Analysis
| Sensitivity | -20% | -10% | Base Case | +10% | +20% | Spot |
| Gold Price ($/oz) | $2,800 | $3,150 | $3,500 | $3,850 | $4,200 | $5,186 |
| Silver Price ($/oz) | $38 | $43 | $48 | $53 | $58 | $88 |
| Pre-Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $166M | $263M | $360M | $457M | $555M | $846M |
| Pre-Tax IRR (%) | 37% | 52% | 65% | 78% | 89% | 121% |
| After-Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $102M | $163M | $224M | $284M | $344M | $525M |
| After-Tax IRR (%) | 29% | 40% | 50% | 59% | 68% | 91% |
| After-Tax Payback (years) | 2.6 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
Table 3: Operating & Capital Sensitivity Analysis
| Sensitivity | -20% | -10% | Base Case | +10% | +20% |
| Operating Costs – After-Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $287 | $256M | $224M | $192M | $160M |
| Operating Costs – IRR (%) | 61% | 56% | 50% | 45% | 39% |
| Capital Costs – After-Tax NPV(8) ($ million) | $237 | $230M | $224M | $217M | $210M |
| Capital Costs – IRR (%) | 60% | 55% | 50% | 46% | 43% |
Capital Costs
The estimated capital costs for the Cerro Caliche Gold Project are based on an open pit, heap leach operation with contract mining. Initial capital expenditures of $83 million, including 15% contingency, contemplates an initial one-year production rate of 12,000 tpd with an increase to 16,000 tpd in the second year of production. Costs include direct facility costs such as processing facilities and leach pad impoundment as well as infrastructure, site preparation and indirect costs such as EPCM, freight, spares, office equipment and light vehicles. Initial capital costs also include $19 million for a crushing/conveying circuit and $9 million for open pit pre-stripping.
An additional $26 million is estimated for sustaining capital, including heap leach pad expansion costs. Reclamation and closure costs are estimated at $4 million.
Capital cost estimates are based on industry standards and were developed using quotes provided by mining contractors and specialists experienced in mining development in Mexico.
Table 4: Initial Capital Costs
| Initial Capital Costs | Costs (USD) |
| Site and General | $2M |
| Utilities and Services | $4M |
| Process Plant | $47M |
| Owners Costs | $9M |
| Pre-Stripping and Mine Development | $10M |
| Contingency | $11M |
| Total | $83M |
Table 5: Sustaining Capital Costs
| Sustaining Costs | Costs (USD) |
| Process Plant | $20M |
| Mining | $1M |
| Owners Costs | $2M |
| Contingency | $3M |
| Total | $26M |
Operating Costs
Cash operating costs for Cerro Caliche’s LOM are estimated at $820 million and average $15.54 per tonne processed and includes mining, crushing and processing, as well as maintenance and administration costs. All-in Sustaining Costs for LOM are estimated at $873 million or $1,902 per gold equivalent ounce and include operating costs, sustaining capital, reclamation, royalties, and refining charges.
Royalties include a 2% Net Smelter Return to certain landholders and a 1% NSR payment to the Mexican government for mining duty taxes. The two landholder royalties are assumed to be bought out at the first opportunity for payments of $2 million each. Refining costs include carbon processing and production and treatment of doré bars.
Open pit mining will be undertaken by a contractor and carried out by drill and blast, conventional loading and truck haulage to the crushing or waste rock storage facility. An estimated mining cost of $3.15 per tonne mined includes drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling mineralized feed to the primary crusher or waste rock to either an ex-pit storage facility or in-pit facilities once there is space available.
The processing facilities at Cerro Caliche will be comprised of a crushing circuit where mineralized material is processed through a three-stage crushing plant to produce material that is P80 of ½” (80% passing). The material is then conveyed and stacked in a conventional heap leach pad and irrigated with a low concentrate cyanide solution. An estimated crushing cost of $1.52 per tonne includes the cost of crushing and conveying.
Solution collected from the leach pad is then directed through a system of channels to the processing ponds where it passes through a series of carbon columns. Gold and silver impregnated carbon is collected periodically from the columns and then dried and stripped for doré bar production. An estimated LOM average processing cost of $7.13 per tonne includes crushing, leaching, assaying, labour and production of doré bars.
Operating cost estimates are based on industry standards and were developed using quotes provided by mining contractors and specialists experienced in mining development in Mexico.
Table 6: Operating Costs
| Operating Costs | LOM (USD) | $/t Processed |
| Mining | $416M | $7.88 |
| Processing | $376M | $7.13 |
| Administration | $28M | $0.53 |
| Total | $820M | $15.54 |
Table 7: All-in-Sustaining Costs
| AISC Costs | LOM (USD) | $/oz AuEq |
| Operating Costs | $820M | $1,786 |
| Royalties | $25M | $55 |
| Sustaining | $26M | $57 |
| Mill Salvage Value (10% of equipment) | $(3)M | $(6) |
| Closure | $4M | $ 9 |
| Total | $873M | $ 1,902 |
About P&E Mining Consultants Inc.
P&E, established in 2004, provides geological and mine engineering consulting reports, Mineral Resources Estimate technical reports, Preliminary Economic Assessments and Pre-Feasibility Studies. In addition, P&E is affiliated with major consulting firms for the purposes of joint venturing on Feasibility Studies. Our experience covers over 480 technical reports on diamonds, most metallic deposits including gold, silver, base metals, PGM and iron for both open pit and underground deposits. Software packages utilized include Gemcom, Leapfrog, Whittle, NPV Scheduler, Vulcan, Ventsim, AutoCAD and Deswik. P&E’s 22 associates have experience in geological interpretation, 3D geological modelling, technical report writing, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Estimates, property evaluations, mine design, production scheduling, operating and capital cost estimates, and metallurgical engineering.
About Sonoro Gold Corp.
Sonoro Gold Corp. is a publicly listed exploration and development Company holding the near-development-stage Cerro Caliche project and the exploration-stage San Marcial project in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company has highly experienced operational and management teams with proven track records for the discovery and development of natural resource deposits.
On behalf of the Board of Sonoro Gold Corp.
Per:“Kenneth MacLeod”
Kenneth MacLeod
President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
Sonoro Gold Corp. – Tel: (604) 632-1764
Email: info@sonorogold.com
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