Meridian Mining shares jump 10% as Cabaçal study points to $2bn value

Meridian Mining shares jump 10% as Cabaçal study points to $2bn value

Tue, September 22, 2026 at 1:07 PM GMT+3 2 min read

Shares in Meridian Mining Plc (LSE:MNO, TSX:MNO, OTCQX:MRRDF) rose 10% after a definitive feasibility study valued its Cabaçal gold-copper-silver project in Brazil at more than $2 billion.

The stock climbed to 109p in early trading.

Meridian, a miner listed in London and Toronto, has been advancing the deposit in the state of Mato Grosso since 2021.

The study put the project's after-tax net present value at $2.09 billion, using a 5% discount rate, and pointed to an internal rate of return of 108%.

That return, a standard measure of a project's annual profitability, sat far above the level most mining developments achieve.

Meridian said the initial outlay would be recovered in 0.9 years.

Initial capital spending was pegged at $322 million, giving a value-to-cost ratio of 6.5 times.

Over a 13.9-year mine life, Cabaçal would generate revenue of $5.4 billion, the company said.

Higher-grade ore is scheduled for the early years, lifting average annual free cash flow to $414 million over the first five years.

All-in sustaining costs, a common gauge of what it takes to produce an ounce of gold, were put at $1,056 over the life of the mine.

The study assumed a gold price of $3,570 an ounce, below recent spot levels.

At spot prices, the net present value rose to $2.9 billion and the internal rate of return to 135%.

Chief executive Gilbert Clark said the results could make Cabaçal the next mine of its type built anywhere in the world.

The company said preconstruction work was under way, with committed contracts worth $15.9 million and talks held with up to 30 potential lenders.

The definitive study supersedes an earlier assessment from March 2025, with stronger economics, a larger reserve and an improved mine plan.