Analysts at Stifel GMP have reiterated a 'Buy' rating and $6.20 price target for i-80 Gold Corp, following the company’s recent announcement that it had begun shipping ore from its Granite Creek Mine to Nevada Gold Mines' Twin Creeks processing facility.
The move was part of a previously announced toll-milling agreement included in the Lone Tree property acquisition, the Stifel analysts noted.
“The ramp-up of Granite Creek is progressing well with plans to reach 450 [tons per day] by the end of the year and 1,000 tpd by H2-2023. Today's announcement is another step toward developing i-80's Nevada assets into the big picture hub-and-spoke model where material is processed at the Lone Tree facility," they said.
READ: i-80 Gold starts shipping Granite Creek ore to Nevada Gold Mines
The Stifel analysts also noted that more than 30,000 meters (m) of drilling is planned at Granite Creek with another 20,000m planned at Ruby Hill.
“In terms of valuation, IAU is trading at an attractive spot P/NAV of just 0.31x, a large discount to the advanced developer peer average of 0.47x and our target of 0.90x,” they noted. “On an EV/oz basis, its valuation is also attractive at $21/oz, below the advanced developer group which trades at $71/oz.”
i-80 Gold is a well-financed, Nevada-focused, mining company with a goal of achieving mid-tier gold producer status through the development of multiple deposits within the company's advanced-stage property portfolio anticipated to be processed at the centrally located Lone Tree processing facility and autoclave.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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