There have been a number of posters including me plus SL comparing SPR to BGL. The next image comes from the last FS by BGL in September 2021. I like doing comparisons as they can provide a different perspective.
Two things to note from BGL FS:.
A. the G&A expense of $48/Oz - SPR may end up with costs not too far above this - I am not sure how long they amortise the costs but if its more than 10 years, eg 15 years, SPR may be close to BGL's figure. BGL's capital cost was about $270m (excluding any over runs) so maybe its possible for G&A for SPR to be less than BGL as the capital cost they will be amortising will be a lot less than $270m but that may be my imagination working overtime.
B. The other cost to note is Royalties. In the September quarter of 2022 SPR royalties were $46 per OZ but previous quarters they were about $65/ Oz. SPR have a $6.3m liability in their accounts for future royalties which equates to royalties on about 130k Oz of gold mined which will be about 1 years production when SPR are next producing. So royalties for SPR going forward per oz will be way below BGL's figure of $111/Oz.
This is another reason to be optimistic about the possibility of a low ASIC for SPR going forward. But these items are small compared to the actual cost of mining.
One other thing I noted from BGL's FS is the reserve was only 630K Oz in its first FS in February 2021 (or 66% of indicated resource of 1,040k Oz) and increased to 1,040k Oz in September 2021 for FS 2 (or 72% of indicated resource of 1,400k Oz).
Then add in the fact that SPR already has an open pit for WW, $P etc so less costs to get to the ore.
SPR's Dalgaranga project already has indicated of 1.1m Oz with 700k Oz at NN which they want to increase to 800K Oz by June 24. I am expecting by June 24 this project will likely have an indicated resource of close to 1.4m Oz and an MRE close to 2.5m Oz.
If the objective a year ago was to have a NN resource of 600k Oz and a reserve of 300k Oz for a 5+ year mine for 130k to 150K Oz pa production then surely with a NN reserve of probably more than double this objective (and an estimated mine life currently of 8+ years according to the latest presentation) then surely we must be looking at a mine life of 10 years by mid 2024 with production of more like 150K Oz. In comparison to BGL SPR may be able to come out with a DFS for 200K Oz pa for 10 years mid 2024 based on what we know and anticipate in the next 6 months.
So SPR does seem undervalued using BGL as a benchmark especially with the plant owned by SPR. I won't be surprised (but have no real idea) if SPR has an ASIC of less than $1,300/ Oz which CMM and BGL will have and are in the low part of the lowest quartile cost curve.
(20min delay)