Pretium Resources Inc. accelerated the commissioning of its Brucejack gold-silver mine in British Columbia, and expects the total capital cost of the project to increase 16% to US$811.1 million.

Dry commissioning is now scheduled for March, and wet commissioning for early April, according to the Feb. 3 statement. Commissioning was previously expected in mid-2017.

At the base case gold price of US$1,100 per ounce, the company expects a posttax net present value, discounted at 5%, of US$1.53 billion, a 28.5% internal rate of return, and a 3.5-year payment period. The posttax net cash flow from the mine is expected at US$2.82 billion.

In February 2016, the company pegged a posttax net present value, discounted at 5%, of US$1.55 billion, a 27.4% internal rate of return, with a payback period of 3.5 years.

The new capital cost estimate includes US$68.8 million of working capital for the first three months of production, without taking into account the revenue generated during the period.