i-80 Gold Corp. completed a property acquisition with members of the Christison family and Seven Dot Cattle Co. LLC to secure mineral and surface interests at the recently acquired Getchell Project in Humboldt County, Nevada.
The lands acquired include an approximate 42% interest in certain claims that host a significant portion of the open-pit resource at Getchell and the potential extension of the Pinson underground deposit. The property interests also include private surface ownerships that will allow for the development of an open pit. Lastly, i-80 is acquiring an additional land section that will provide additional area that can be used for locating important infrastructure.
The total consideration consisted of $10 million in cash ($7.5 million of which was paid in December 2020) and 2,430,488 common shares of i-80 Gold.
“The acquisition of these properties represent a major milestone for the Getchell Project, further consolidating mineral ownership of one of Nevada’s highest-grade development-stage deposits while also securing critical surface lands that will allow i-80 to pursue the development of an open-pit mining operation contained within our property,” i-80 President and COO Matt Gili said.
The Getchell Project represents one of i-80’s three core land holdings in Nevada and is host to both open pit and underground resources. In 2021, the company will complete a preliminary economic assessment and major drill programs, both on surface and underground. The goal is to advance the Pinson underground mine, currently under care-and-maintenance, to a production decision on an expedited basis. Pinson is host to a high-grade resource that includes 190,000 ounces (oz) of gold (measured and indicated) at a grade of 10.49 grams/ton and 581,000 oz of gold (Inferred) at a grade of 11.90 g/t making it one of the highest-grade, fully permitted, gold deposits in North America. Permitting activities will be initiated concurrent with drilling and metallurgical work on the open pit deposit area that hosts a measured and indicated resource of 1.275 million oz of gold at an average grade of 1.95 g/t Au.
