North Bay Resources Inc. (OTC:NBRI) CEO Jared Lazerson talked with Proactive about their recent acquisition of the Mount Vernon Mine in Sierra County, California.
Lazerson highlighted the significance of this purchase, emphasizing the mine's proximity to the historic California goldfields and the Ruby Mine, known for high-grade nuggets.
Proactive: You've just announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the Mount Vernon Mine in Sierra County, California. Can you tell us more about the acquisition and the potential you see in this project?
Jared Lazerson: It’s a big acquisition for us. Mount Vernon is located near some of the richest mines in North America, historically part of the original California goldfields. It's a very interesting type of deposit that many people might not be familiar with. This is known as a Paleo placer deposit. Similar to modern placer mining, this deposit was essentially a riverbed that dried up around 300 to 400 million years ago. It then became a sedimentary composite conglomerate deposit.
Since it was a riverbed, the deposit isn't very deep and is extremely well-defined. This area has been well mapped, and the gold sits just like it does in a placer deposit, mainly in the bottom 8 to 10 feet, with the bottom 4 or 5 feet being particularly rich.
This mine is undeveloped but is close to the Ruby Mine, historically the richest mine in North America, and it shares the same channel. Historically, very high-grade nuggets have been found here, including one on this property grading 90 ounces.
The mine is permitted and has existing infrastructure. We plan to start test mining almost immediately and then ramp up to about 100 tons per day, transported across three truckloads to our mill.
How does this dovetail with the Bishop Gold Mill asset that you mentioned?
The mill has a capacity of 100 tons per day in terms of total throughput. Based on the existing exploration at Mount Vernon, we project well over one ounce per ton. So, to give some ballpark numbers: 90 tons per day at one ounce per ton with a 90% recovery rate. We'll finalize these figures with metallurgy testing this month. The ore is relatively clean and easy to separate, being a placer-type, even though it's hard rock.
We're looking at producing about 80 ounces a day. Doing the quick math, that translates to approximately $200,000 gross per day. After accounting for costs and our milling partner, we're likely to net well over $100,000 a day. The mining business, as we discussed, is straightforward when you get to it. This isn't an exploration play; it's well-defined and well-laid-out.
The processing mill and the mine are both in place. At the current processing rate of 100 tons per day, this mine should provide sufficient high-grade feedstock for many years, potentially even beyond my time. The current tonnage estimate for the mine, based on the known channel, is about 984,000 tons. At 100 tons per day, that's roughly a 50-year life. Of course, we would look to expand or upgrade our processing in the future.
For now, we just want to get our initial flow going and see how it progresses. We're in a strong position as a company, experiencing quick growth. We acquired the mill in April and now have a major permitted mine. I can't underscore enough the importance of the gold price. A year ago, I had a vision, but I didn't foresee the impact of geopolitics, monetary policy changes, or the demand for gold from both Main Street and central banks solidifying the gold market.
There are limited ways to invest in gold without buying it directly or investing in major producers like Barrick, Newmont, or Kinross, which are all fully valued. The only way to leverage the price of gold without waiting for the next cycle is to invest in a new gold producer. The exploration game is tough, but this innovative, high-grade ore gold mine with a small processing facility and footprint in a safe jurisdiction like North America, specifically California, is very exciting.
Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity