(Kitco News) Tiernan Gold is advancing its Volcan gold project in Chile’s Maricunga district toward a pre-feasibility study targeted for 2027, as higher gold prices materially alter the economics of the 11 Moz oxide deposit in a district seeing renewed development activity.
Volcan hosts 9.8 Moz measured and indicated, and total resources of about 11 Moz. “It’s an 11 million ounce deposit,” Director Chris Taylor said, adding, “The thing is huge.”
A preliminary economic assessment released in 2025 outlined a mine plan containing about 3.8 Moz of the broader resource and was built on gold price assumptions in the $1,600 to $1,800 range. That leaves a significant portion of the 11 Moz outside the current mine plan. Taylor said the framework does not reflect the current price environment.
“It really basically bears no resemblance to what the project could be under a sort of modern gold price regime,” he said.
Using a $3,600 gold scenario, Taylor estimates the existing mine design could generate an after-tax NPV of about $3.6 billion and an IRR of roughly 47%. He described Volcan as “probably a top quartile in terms of all-in sustaining costs,” citing its large-scale oxide heap leach configuration, which typically offers operating simplicity relative to more complex processing routes.
Tiernan raised C$58 million in November 2025 to fund work toward the PFS. The company is just over 60% owned by Hochschild Mining, aligning the project with a major producer as it advances along the development curve.
With only a portion of the 11 Moz currently included in the mine plan, the upcoming PFS will reassess scale and economics under a higher gold price regime, potentially reshaping the production profile of one of Chile’s larger undeveloped gold assets.
Watch the full interview with Chris Taylor on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel.
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