i-80 Gold Corp revealed that it has completed the first gold sales from residual heap leach operations at its Lone Tree and Ruby Hill projects in Nevada, both wholly-owned by the company.
The Nevada-focused mining company said the milestones achieve another two items outlined in its 2022 comprehensive plan announced on January 12, 2022.
"A truly historic event for i-80," Matthew Gollat, i-80 Gold executive vice-president said in a statement. "After less than a year in existence we have produced our first gold from ongoing residual leach projects while we continue to execute the development of several projects within our portfolio as planned with the goal of becoming a significant operator in the state of Nevada."
READ: i-80 Gold aims to become Nevada’s second-largest gold producer
The Lone Tree property is strategically located on Interstate 80, the primary highway through northern Nevada, and close to the northern Nevada railway, midway between i-80's Granite Creek and McCoy-Cove projects.
Lone Tree provides i-80 with a distinct competitive advantage in Nevada hosting important processing infrastructure to grow the company's business including an autoclave, carbon-in-leach (CIL) mill, and a heap leach facility complete with assay lab and gold refinery. Current gold production is the result of leaching existing heap leach pads.
According to the company, its nearby Brooks and Buffalo Mountain mining operations are currently being advanced with material to be trucked to the Lone Tree leach pad. Mining of the Brooks deposit is expected to start in the second half of 2022.
Meanwhile, the company’s Ruby Hill Mine is located immediately west of the town of Eureka close to Highway 50 and is host to multiple deposits that i-80 believes collectively represent one of the largest gold and silver resource endowments in Nevada. The property is host to key infrastructure including heap leach facilities, a CIL circuit and a mill.
In the future, refractory mineralization from Ruby Hill is expected to be trucked to the Lone Tree Complex for processing following its refurbishment. The primary source of production at Ruby Hill is material from the East Archimedes open-pit mined from September 2020 to November 2021, as well as some residual leach from older material on the pad.
i-80 Gold Corp is a well-financed, Nevada-focused, mining company with a goal of achieving mid-tier gold producer status. The firm’s portfolio now has five projects — Lone Tree, Brooks/Buffalo Mountain, Granite Creek, McCoy-Cove, and Ruby Hill. Lone Tree will act as the hub of i-80’s operation, providing integrated processing infrastructure for all types of ore.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive