Revival books 11.58g gold at Beartrack-Arnett in Idaho

Revival Gold (TSXV: RVG; US-OTCQX: RVLGF) reported one of the strongest underground drill hits to date from the high-grade Joss zone of its Beartrack-Arnett gold project in Idaho. The stock soared.

Hole BT26-255D cut about 132 metres of 3.43 grams gold per tonne from 543 metres downhole, Revival Gold said Tuesday in a statement. This included about 43 metres of 6.56 grams gold from 632 meters depth and 12 metres of 11.58 grams gold from 639 metres.

The latest hole sits about 70 metres above previously reported high-grade mineralization in hole BT22-242D and roughly 150 metres below hole BT21-240D. The continuity between these intercepts suggests the early definition of a north-plunging shoot that remains open for additional drilling beyond its existing 1.2 km of known mineralized strike, CEO Hugh Agro said.

Further results are expected in the coming weeks.

The BT26-255D intercept lies within the Panther Creek shear zone, where Revival is targeting the growth of underground sulphide resources that could eventually complement the company’s staged development plans for Beartrack-Arnett.

Revival shares jumped 15% to 76¢ Tuesday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at about $243 million (US$172 million). The stock has traded between 48¢ and $1.14 in the past year.

Development opportunity

All five primary drill holes and three wedge holes completed this season intersected the Panther Creek shear zone. Results from two remaining wedge holes are pending, Revival said.

Located about 400 km by road northeast of state capital Boise, Beartrack-Arnett is one of the five biggest gold discoveries made in the United States in the last 15 years, according to S&P Capital IQ Pro. It covers about 63 sq. km.

Beartrack-Arnett combines the past-producing Beartrack mine with the adjacent Arnett deposit into a large-scale development opportunity. Beartrack operated as an open-pit heap-leach mine between 1994 and 2000, producing about 600,000 oz. of gold before closing due to low gold prices.

Toronto-based Revival has since consolidated the district and advanced engineering studies aimed at restarting heap-leach production while evaluating the higher-grade underground opportunity at Joss.

Underground growth

Revival’s 5,500-metre drill program this year has extended Joss 240 metres deeper to 850 metres below surface. 

Joss, which sits outside Beartrack-Arnett’s first-stage heap leach mine plan, could give Revival a higher-grade underground growth route as it advances two past-producing U.S. gold assets toward possible production. Revival has studies for heap leach restarts at Beartrack-Arnett and Mercur in Utah.

Joss hosts an underground sulphide inferred resource of 6.75 million tonnes grading 4.05 grams gold for 877,000 oz. of gold that isn’t included in Beartrack-Arnett’s 2023 prefeasibility study (PFS), Revival says.

The PFS envisaged a mine producing 65,300 oz. gold annually over an eight-year operating life with an after-tax net present value (NPV) of US$230 million ($324 million) and an internal rate of return of 43%, assuming a 5% discount rate and a $2,175-per-oz. gold price. At $4,000 gold, the NPV rose to $800 million.