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TORONTO — Rupert Resources Ltd (“Rupert” or the “Company”) has completed a Pre-feasibility study (“PFS” or “study”) for its 100% owned Ikkari Project (the “Ikkari Project” or “Ikkari”). Ikkari is located 40km from the town of Sodankylä in Northern Finland. An accompanying National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) technical report is available on the Company’s website at www.rupertresources.com and has also been filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
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{All figures are in US$ unless otherwise noted}
PFS HIGHLIGHTS
Maiden Mineral Reserve declared for the Ikkari Project with Probable Mineral Reserve of 52Mt at 2.1g/t Au for 3.5Moz Au representing an 85% Mineral Resource to Mineral Reserve conversion.All weather project economics with leverage to higher gold prices: After-tax Net Present Value (5% discount) (“NPV”) of $1.7 billion with unlevered Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 38% and payback after 2.2 years, assuming long term market consensus gold price of $2,150 per troy ounce (“oz”). NPV of $2.5 billion with IRR of 49% and 1.7 year payback at $2,650/oz.High margin production profile: Expected lowest quartile all-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) of $918/oz over LOM, and $717/oz during years 1 to 10 primarily due to a high open pit grade and low strip ratio.Long life: 20-year life of mine (“LOM”) comprising an open-pit operation for the first 10 years with average annual production of 227koz per annum, transitioning to an underground operation (years 10 – 20).Manageable initial capital requirement of $575 million including contingency with project maintaining the low capital intensity indicated by the 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”).100% Contained within Rupert Property: All project infrastructure contained within Rupert’s 100% owned exploration licences. Access road, power line and discharge pipeline permitted though separate auxiliary permitting process and do not require siting on mining or exploration permits held by Rupert Resources.First gold pour targeted in 2030 based on Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) submission and Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) initiation in H2 2025, a 24-month permitting timeline and a 2½ year construction period.
Graham Crew, Chief Executive Officer of Rupert Resources said “The results of today’s study and declaration of 3.5Moz Probable Mineral Reserve confirm Ikkari’s ability to translate robust project fundamentals into compelling project value. The PFS confirms Ikkari’s potential for lowest quartile costs combined with manageable initial capital requirements in a Tier 1 jurisdiction for mining. Work on the Definitive Feasibility Study and Environmental Impact Assessment are already underway and we look forward to publishing results from our 2025 winter exploration campaign in due course.”
Financial model after-tax project value and returns at range of gold prices
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Gold price (USD / troy ounce)
NPV ($m)*
IRR (%)
Payback (Years)
1700 (Reserve price)
950
27%
3.1
2150 (base case & LT consensus)
1,700
38%
2.2
2650
2,500
49%
1.7
3000 (high case)
3,100
56%
1.4
*NPV rounded to 2 significant figures at all gold prices
Financial Model Assumptions
Assumption
Unit
Value
Gold Price (unless stated otherwise)
USD / Troy Ounce
2150
Discount rate
%
5
Exchange rate
EUR : USD
1 : 1.05
Corporate tax rate
%
20
State and landowner royalties1
%
0.75
10.75% combined state and landowner royalty payable on plant feed gold content.
PFS Summary
Ikkari is a grassroots discovery made in 2020 by Rupert and completion of the PFS represents a major milestone for the company as it advances the Ikkari Project towards production. The PFS builds on the 4.09Moz Indicated Mineral Resource delivered in November 2023 and enables the Company to declare a maiden Probable Mineral Reserve for the project of 52Mt at 2.1g/t Au for 3.5Moz. Following the successful completion the PFS, Rupert will progress to a Definitive Feasibility Study for the project and expects to submit its EIA in H2 2025.
The Ikkari PFS envisages a staged mine design to minimise waste stripping and enable early production from high grade areas in the open pit. The open pit will produce ore for 10 years before transitioning to a long hole open stope (“LHOS”) underground mine from year 10 for the remainder of the 20-year LOM. Both the grade and the low strip ratio in the open pit are key drivers of a lowest quartile ASIC operation set out in the PFS.
Production Summary
Years 1 to 10
LOM (20 years)
Milled tonnes (Mt)
35
52
Mill tonnes per annum (Mt/year)
3.5
2.6
Average processed gold grade (g/t Au)
2.1
2.1
Average metallurgical recovery (%)
95.8
95.8
Average annual gold production (koz)
227
167
Saleable gold (koz)
2,270
3,340
1Total Cash Cost ($/saleable oz)
603
747
Sustaining capital ($/saleable oz)
115
171
2All in Sustaining Cost (AISC) ($/saleable oz)
717
918
Total initial capital including contingency ($ M)
575
1Cash cost includes selling expenses
2As per the World Gold guidance (Gold All in Sustaining Costs | Gold AISC | World Gold Council) available at www.gold.org/gold-standards/non-gaap-metrics-guide, the objective of the AISC metric is to provide stakeholders (i.e. management, shareholders, governments, local communities, etc.) with transparent and comparable metrics that reflect as close as possible the full cost of producing and selling an ounce of gold, and which are fully and transparently reconcilable back to amounts reported under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) as published by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB” also referred to as “IFRS”). AISC is a non-GAAP metric.
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Project economics
Life of Mine
Years
20
Net Present Value* ^
US $m
1,700
Internal Rate of Return (unlevered)*
%
38
Payback
Years
2.2
Capital Expenditure (Initial)
US $m
575
Capital Expenditure (Sustaining)
US $m
571
Gross Revenue^
US $m
7,200
Operating Cost^
US $m
2,400
Free Cash Flow (after tax)^
US $m
2,800
*Modelled using $2150/oz gold and 5% discount rate; ^Rounded to 2 significant figures
Operating cost estimate
Operating cost
Unit
Yrs 1 to 10
LOM
OP mining unit cost
$/t material mined
4.11
OP Strip ratio
Waste : Ore ratio
3.72
OP mining unit cost
$/t ore mined
17.21
UG mining unit cost
$/t ore mined
46.0
Mining
$/t ore milled
19.6
26.1
Processing
$/t ore milled
11.9
13.4
Co-Disposal Storage
$/t ore milled
2.5
2.0
Water Management & Treatment
$/t ore milled
1.9
2.3
Site G&A
$/t ore milled
2.2
3.0
Total Operating Costs
$/t ore milled
38.1
46.8
1Excludes capitalized pre-strip tonnage and cost
2Strip ratio is inclusive of capitalized pre-strip tonnage
Capital cost estimates (All USD millions)
Area
Initial Capital
Sustaining Capital
Mining
45
212
Co-Disposal Storage
34
24
Surface Infrastructure
72
3
Concentrator & Filtration Plant
190
2
Closure
0
151
Water Management and Treatment
136
118
Electrical Engineering
17
2
Indirect
15
0
Contingency
66
59
Total Capital
575
571
Ikkari Mineral Reserve
Category
Mining Method
Cut-off
Tonnage
Grade
Gold Content
Au (g/t)
(Mt)
Au (g/t)
Kg
Ounces
Proven
–
–
–
–
–
–
Probable
Open Pit
0.34
35.7
2.2
79 920
2 486 000
Underground
1.04
16.3
1.9
32 370
1 007 000
Total
52.0
2.1
112 290
3 492 000
Notes:
Tonnages are rounded to the nearest 100,000 and ounces are rounded to the nearest 1,000.Mineral Reserves were estimated using the CIM Best Practices Guidelines (as defined below) and classified using the CIM Definition Standards (as defined below)The Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 (“Qualified Person” or “QP”) for the Mineral Reserve Estimate is Mr. Timothy Daffern, Technical Director with WSP. The effective date of the estimate is November 25, 2024.Mineral Reserves are based on a gold price of US$1,700/oz and fixed metallurgical recovery of 95.0%Open pit Mineral Reserves are converted from Indicated Mineral Resources only through the process of pit optimisation, mine design, schedule and are supported by a positive cash flow analysis.Mine design was constrained by a minimum 20m offset to the project boundaryOpen pit Mineral Reserves include 4% dilution and 4% mining losses applied in the production schedule.Underground Mineral Reserves are stated using a 1.04 g/t stope cut-off grade. Underground Mineral Reserves are generated through the generation of optimised stopes, design of long hole open stoping, schedule and are supported by a positive cash flow analysis.Underground Mineral Reserves account for planned dilution of 15%, unplanned dilution of 6%, secondary dilution of 3% and with mining losses of 4%.Mineral Reserves are defined at the point where ore is delivered to the plant. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimates.Totals may not sum due to rounding.
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Ikkari Mineral Resource (inclusive of Mineral Reserves)
Resource Category
Mining Method
Cut-off
Tonnage

