Stormlands finds substantial increase in Whistler project value at re-evaluated prices

The project is owned by US GoldMining, which estimates the project can produce 3.6-million gold-equivalent ounces over a 14-year mine life.

Stormlands finds in its independent modelling, using March 2026 commodity prices for gold, copper and silver, that the project’s net present value (NPV) is currently more than $4.7-billion, compared with $2-billion in the base case price scenario of the project’s preliminary economic assessment (PEA).

Stormlands’ base case model, using the latest technical report and PEA on the project, suggests a post-tax project NPV of about $2-billion at a 5% discount rate, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 32% and payback of around 30 months after the start of production.

The firm finds, however, that at current commodity prices the Whistler project’s IRR can rise to 61% and the payback period can narrow to 19 months.  

The project’s life-of-mine (LoM) revenue is estimated to be $16.1-billion at current commodity prices, compared with $10.9-billion in the base case scenario. LoM earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increase to $11-billion, from $5.9-billion, at current commodity prices.

Stormlands used price assumptions of copper at $12 498/t, gold at $4 877/oz, and silver at $74.92/oz in its evaluation, compared with the base case assumptions of that valued copper, gold and silver at prices of $9 920/t, $3 200/oz and $37.50/oz, respectively.

The Whistler case study is the latest release from the Stormlands Library, a growing repository of interactive mining asset valuation models designed to help users to understand the key drivers of mining project economics.

Stormlands' model shows that Whistler is highly sensitive to commodity price assumptions, particularly gold and copper. A 10% reduction in the overall price factor reduces project NPV to about $1.44-billion, while a 10% increase raises NPV to about $2.59-billion.

Stormlands’ sensitivity analysis shows that gold and copper are the key external value drivers.

Operating cost and capital cost are also material drivers, with operating-cost discipline particularly important in protecting value under lower-price scenarios.

Stormlands’ heatmap analysis shows that Whistler remains meaningfully positive across a broad range of price and operating-cost scenarios, while stronger commodity prices and lower operating costs move the project into a materially higher-value range.

Stormlands chief product officer Phil O’Connell says the Whistler project is a good example of why mining valuation needs to move beyond static PDF reporting.

“The base case already shows a substantial gold/copper development project, but the real insight comes from being able to test how value changes as assumptions move. Under stronger gold and copper prices, the Whistler model shows a very significant uplift in NPV, IRR, payback and government tax outcomes.”

The Whistler case study follows Stormlands’ earlier Rovina Valley project analysis and forms part of the company’s plan to build a global library of mining asset valuation models.

The Stormlands Library is intended to provide a structured source of mining project models, enabling users to screen assets, benchmark projects and test assumptions.