Feds OK Nevada gold project, first in a decade  

Waterton Mining has announced that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved its Spring Valley project in Nevada, the first federal approval of a gold mine project in more than a decade.

Spring Valley, in Pershing County some 200 km northeast of Reno, aims to be the country’s largest independent gold mine, run by Waterton subsidiary Solidus Resources. It’s focused on advancing the heap leach gold project, with a reserve of 3.8 million oz. gold, through permitting, construction and into operation.  

“The Spring Valley project will be Nevada’s next long-life heap leach gold mine,” Waterton CEO Isser Elishis said in a July 16 news release. “The significance of this project will be far-reaching, boosting domestic non-fuel mineral production, creating thousands of high-paying jobs, increasing both local wages and tax revenues significantly, and enhancing U.S. mining competitiveness.” 

Privately-held Waterton aims to produce more than 300,000 oz. gold per year over a 10-year-plus life, according to a feasibility released this year. All-in sustaining costs were pegged at $1,103 per oz. gold. The project has an after-tax net present value at a 5% discount rate of $1.5 billion with an after-tax internal rate of return of 36%, as per the study. It used a gold price of $2,400 per oz. in 2028 and $2,200 per oz. from 2029.

EXIM funding

In May, Solidus received a Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) regarding the potential financing of up to $835,000 for Spring Valley. The funding is being considered under EXIM’s Make More in America initiative and its China and Transformational Exports Program. 

Spring Valley has an indicated resource of 4.4 million oz. gold including reserves, and 600,000 inferred oz. gold. Solidus exploration from 2015 included 232 holes totaling 58,160 metres, metallurgical testwork, geotechnical and hydrological modeling, as well as a pre-feasibility study in 2018, when it began the permitting process

The Spring Valley mining district was discovered in 1868 and produced gold, silver, lead, mercury, copper, antimony and pinite. Modern exploration began in 1996 by Kennecott Minerals, which searched for the source of gold in the Spring Valley placer deposits. Subsequent programs were carried out by Echo Bay, Midway and Barrick.

Elishis said the project “supports the onshoring of strategic mineral production, encouraging U.S.-based sourcing of mining technology, and boosting exports of American-manufactured equipment and services.”