i-80 Gold Corp. completed its acquisition of Paycore, owner of the FAD Property that hosts the high-grade FAD deposit located immediately south of, and adjoining, i-80’s Ruby Hill Property in Eureka County, Nevada.
The transaction consolidates i-80’s exposure to one of the world’s premier re-emerging carbonate replacement deposits (CRD) districts, while also providing i-80 with 100% ownership of the FAD deposit, one of the highest-grade polymetallic deposits in North America. The company said it will continue the current infill and expansion drill program.
“The expanded land package at Ruby Hill will allow i-80 to aggressively pursue the optimization of the Company’s multi-year development plan and to realize its goal of creating one of the largest U.S.-focused diversified mineral producers,” said Matthew Gollat, executive vice-president of i-80 Gold. “As we complete work related to the restart of our two processing facilities, Lone Tree for gold and Ruby Hill for polymetallics, the addition of the FAD deposit to our impressive portfolio will be considered in our future sequencing plans.”
Prior to the discovery of Carlin-type mineralization by Homestake at Ruby Hill in the 1990’s, the Eureka District enjoyed a successful history (1864-1966) that resulted in some of the world’s highest-grade CRD mines. The district produced approximately 1.6 million oz of gold at an average grade of 0.8 oz/ton (27.4 grams per metric ton) and 39 million oz of silver at an average grade of 19.5 oz/ton (668.6 g/mt) from 2 million tons mined (also reported 625 million lb lead at a grade of 15.6 % Pb) with most of the production from the original Ruby Hill Mine, located on the FAD property. The FAD deposit is the down-dip extension of the original Ruby Hill mine and was successfully expanded in a 2022 drill campaign with mineralization that remains wide open for expansion.
“The FAD deposit represents one of North America’s highest-grade undeveloped deposits that fits perfectly into our 2023 exploration program where we have an expanded focus on defining polymetallic mineralization in the Eureka District to better assess the economic opportunity,” said Tyler Hill, senior geologist of i-80 Gold. “High-grade polymetallic deposits like FAD are rare, with grades that are expected to rival many of the world’s premier polymetallic deposits like Agnico’s LaRonde Mine in Quebec.”
Paycore’s common shares will be de-listed from the TSX Venture Exchange. Paycore shareholders received 0.68 of an i-80 common share for each common share of Paycore held.
