“Sometimes you have your cake and eat it too,” Hugh Agro said as he drove us up a Utah canyon toward Revival Gold’s (TSXV: RVG, US-OTC: RVLGF) heap-leach project.
Agro was referring to Revival’s dual strategy of pushing the 1.4-million-oz. Mercur gold project swiftly into production while simultaneously maintaining the advanced 6-million-oz. Beartrack-Arnett project in Idaho as an exploration ace up his sleeve.
A mining engineer who previously held executive roles at Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) and Deutsche Bank, Agro founded Revival in 2017 as CEO, determined to capitalize on both near-term production and long-term exploration upside.
“The Australians understand it,” Agro explained, referring to the build-and-drill approach common among Australian miners and a recent financing led by Australia-based EMR Capital. Early in July, Revival banked $11 million (C$15.2 million) at C48¢ per share with a strategic placement from EMR to own an 11% stake.
“They’ve invested with a toehold stake and explicit intent that the next financing rounds will support continued development,” Agro said.
Watch a video of the site visit below (we apologize for the excessive wind noise at first):
Studies planned
Revival plans to complete its pre-feasibility study through 2026, with a prefeasibility study and securing all state permits by mid-2027, and then make its construction decision.
While Beartrack-Arnett holds a larger and more advanced resource, Mercur is closer to production because of its simpler open-pit, heap-leach design, its history as a past-producing mine and its location on patented land with infrastructure about 60 km by paved road from Salt Lake City.
Revival Gold asset location map. Credit: Revival Gold
Mercur would be developed as an open-pit, heap-leach operation, according to a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) issued in March.
The project has a $295-million after-tax net present value at a gold price of $2,175 per oz., producing about 95,600 oz. gold annually over 10 years. All-in sustaining costs are pegged at $1,363 per ounce.
The PEA followed a $3.7-million private placement led by Dundee (TSX: DC-A).
Revival shares have almost doubled since the start of the year, adding about C5¢ in July to C54¢ near press time for a market capitalization of about C$113 million.
At Beartrack-Arnett, the first phase open pit heap leach restart is straightforward and uses the existing infrastructure, including the existing ADR gold processing plant, which will be refurbished with redevelopment. The asset’s sulphide component requires more complex engineering, permitting and capital investment, pushing its development timeline further out.
Carlin revival
Companies such as Liberty Gold (TSX: LGD), Integra Resources (TSXV: ITR) and Perpetua Resources (TSX, Nasdaq: PPTA) are developing oxide heap-leach and sulphide deposits in the northwestern part of the Carlin Trend. Beartrack-Arnett offers longer-term scale and exploration upside to push the company towards eventual mid-tier status, Agro said.
Revival Gold plans to ramp up activity at Mercur, a former Barrick mine, over the next 2 years. Credit: Henry Lazenby
Mercur holds the distinction of being the first Carlin-type gold deposit identified in the western United States, placing it within a region known for major mineral systems, Agro said. The Oquirrh Range hosts the famous Bingham Canyon copper-molybdenum-gold mine, the world’s largest man-made excavation, and also includes the former Barney’s Canyon gold mine and historic lead-zinc-silver areas at Ophir and Stockton.
Layered cake
Mercur’s geology is defined by alternating beds of host rock and cap rock, according to chief geologist Dan Pace.
“Think of it as a layered cake,” he explained as he excitedly jumped from one drill core box to the next to show off assays. “We’ve got these broad horizontal layers of sedimentary rock. Every deposit needs a conduit for mineralization, a trap and a permeable medium. Here, the permeable unit is called the Mercur member, nicely mineralized and already demonstrated to contain high grades.”
Revival Gold’s chief geologist, Dan Pace, goes over the local geology as CEO Hugh Agro listens. Credit: Henry Lazenby
Pace is optimistic that more of those high-grade pockets remain intact, since finding them would do wonders to lift the project’s economics.
Mercur’s 18,000-tonne-per-day heap-leach carries a pre-production price tag of $208 million for a 10-year mine life with average gold recovery pegged conservatively at 75%, based on Revival’s recent metallurgical testing that achieved recoveries up to 84%. The project has a strip ratio of 2.8:1.
Rince & repeat
Company director Wayne Hubert, former CEO of Andean Resources from 2006 to 2010 when it was acquired by Goldcorp for $3.5 billion, also joined the tour. Hubert had been instrumental in pulling together Mercur’s fragmented land packages, a complex effort taking nearly 12 years.
“We eventually realized Barrick Mining (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) left perhaps a million ounces untouched here,” Hubert told the Miner. “South Mercur alone had 300,000 oz. gold more than initially thought.”
Watch a video of Hubert explaining how he put together the Mercur land package:
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