First ore leaves the Granite Creek mine. (Photo: i-80)
i-80 Gold Corp. has begun shipping ore from operations at the Granite Creek mine to Nevada Gold Mines LLC (NGM), Twin Creeks processing facility, as per the company’s toll-milling agreement negotiated as a part of the acquisition of the Lone Tree property. This shipment represents another major milestone achieved, ahead of schedule, in i-80’s 2022 comprehensive plan.
“This milestone is another key achievement realized by the i-80 operations team, who’s hard work and focus has paved the way to make this historic event possible,” President and COO Matt Gili said. “The goal now is to continue to advance development, ramping up mining to 450 tons per day by the end of the year and further accelerate mining in 2023 to achieve our target of 1,000 tons per day in H2 2023.”
Given timing of the testing of the initial ore sent to NGM under the toll-milling agreement, and an initial blending program by NGM, the company does not expect to report ounces from Granite Creek until the fourth quarter of 2022.
The Granite Creek property is strategically located close to Nevada Gold Mines’ Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks mines at the north end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, at its intersection with the Getchell gold belt in Nevada. High-grade mineralization occurs in a near-identical geological setting as that at the multimillion-ounce Turquoise Ridge mine located immediately to the north; proximal to a major regional fault (the Getchell or Range Front fault) on the eastern edge of the large Osgood Mountains intrusive complex. The Granite Creek deposit remains open at depth and along strike from the existing underground workings and step-out drilling aimed at expanding resources is currently under way.
