Great Western Mining Corporation PLC (AIM:GWMO) is to set up a new precious metals production facility in Nevada in association with Muletown, an affiliate of long-term partner Tipton Trucking.
Western Milling, the name of the new venture, will be jointly owned by the two companies with the first project to be a gravity separation mill built on land leased from Muletown near Mina.
In its first stage, Western Milling will produce precious metals from tailings, spoil heaps, stockpiles of pre-mined material and shallow ore.
At a second stage, the venture will acquire material for processing from third parties, as no similar facility exists at present in the area.
The plant’s location is beside a major highway, Great Western added, and roughly equidistant from its claims at Mineral Jackpot and the Olympic Gold project.
Brian Hall, Great Western’s chairman, added: "The immediate priority is to secure approval to operate the plant for gravity processing which will enable us to generate revenues and the agreement we have signed today gives us an experienced local partner who will be critical to the venture's success.
“We have worked closely with the owners of Muletown for over 10 years, most recently on the construction of a 14 km access road to Mineral Jackpot earlier this year.
“Adding a production facility to our considerable exploration potential, for both precious metals and copper, allows us to move forward with confidence."
Great Western posted an interim loss to end-June 2002 of €449,000 (loss of €428,000) with cash resources at the period end of €1.16mln.
"We are very pleased with the progress made during the period,“ said Hall.
“We set out our stall with an ambitious drilling programme, completed on time and on budget, with positive results received to date.”