Rising metal prices, demand for critical minerals and tariffs are putting the spotlight on mining projects in the United States. Here’s a look at four companies with interesting projects in the Southwest to watch.
Nevada King Gold
Nevada King Gold (TSXV: NKG; US-OTC: NKGFF), which holds its Atlanta mine project in Nevada’s Battle Mountain Trend, more than doubled the contained ounces in a resource update in June. Atlanta is about 264 km northeast of Las Vegas.
The project hosts 27.71 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 1.14 grams gold and 9.75 grams silver for 1.02 million oz. contained gold and 8.7 million oz. silver. Inferred resources add 3.64 million tonnes averaging 0.84 gram gold and 2.56 grams silver for 98,500 oz. gold and 299,500 oz. silver. The previous resource estimate was from 2020.
Regional exploration is underway in a fully funded 30,000-metre drill program and is focused on the Silver Park, Atlanta South and Atlanta North targets.
The Atlanta deposit was discovered in the 19th century and hosted underground and small-scale surface mining. An open pit mine recovered 110,000 oz. gold and 800,000 oz. silver from 1.4 million tonnes between 1975 and 1985.
Nevada King acquired the project in 2018 and started drilling in 2021. The drill program’s first stage identified previously unrecognized high-grade gold at the bottom of the Atlanta pit, as well as higher grade gold 560 metres north of the pit. The second stage (2022-2024) included 75,000 metres of drilling and focused on expanding mineralization in all directions and to depth. Highlights from stage two included 108 metres grading 11.64 grams gold and 17 grams silver in drillhole AT23WS-44 and 82 metres of 6.55 grams gold and 101 grams silver in AT23NS-133F.
Nevada King Gold has a market cap of about $64 million.
Nevada Sunrise Metals
Lithium and copper-focused Nevada Sunrise Metals (TSXV: NEV: US-OTC: NVSGF) holds its main Gemini lithium project in southwest Nevada’s Lida Valley. Its other key lithium projects include Jackson Walsh and Badlands, located just north of Gemini.
The Gemini deposit is open in all directions and holds 7.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent grading about 1,130 parts per million lithium, for about 1.3 million tonnes contained lithium, according to a resource from March 2024.
The company acquired in February the past-producing Griffon gold mine project in Nevada, about 50 km southwest of the town of Ely at the southern extension of the Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend.
Now it is working with VRIFY Technology, a leading artificial intelligence and predictive modelling company, to refine exploration plans and targets.
VRIFY’s algorithms will help identify areas of potential mineralization and the company will work with Nevada Sunrise to compile decades of historical exploration data, including surface geological, geochemical, and geophysical results, as well as a digitized drill hole database.
Griffon produced 62,661 oz. of oxide gold from two open pits from 1998 to 1999.
Elsewhere in Nevada, the company is earning a 100% stake in the Coronado copper project, 48 km southeast of Winnemucca. The 12.3-sq-km project is located over an interpreted trend adjacent to the Big Mike open-pit copper mine, which was discovered in the 1960s and mined out in the 1970s. Big Mike is a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit and Nevada Sunrise believes other copper deposits may exist along trend from the historic mine.
Nevada Sunrise Metals has a market cap of about $2.8 million.
Ridgeline Minerals
Ridgeline Minerals (TSXV: RDG; US-OTC: RDGMF) has seven projects spanning 200 sq. km in Nevada. These include one earn-in agreement with South32 (ASX, LSE: S32) and two with Nevada Gold Mines, a joint-venture between Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) and Newmont (TSX: NGT; ASX, NYSE: NEM).
Five of the projects are being drilled this year with a budget of US$11 million, US$5 million of which will be spent on the Swift gold project, where Nevada Gold Mines is earning an initial 60% stake.
Last year Swift yielded the highest-grade intercept in its history. Hole SW24-006 cut 1.1 metres grading 10.4 grams gold within 2.7 metres grading 7 grams gold starting from 676.3 metres.
Nevada Gold Mines is also earning an initial 60% stake in Ridgeline’s Black Ridge gold project, where field mapping and surface geochemical surveys have been undertaken to support a drill program.
In June, Ridgeline kicked off a drill program at its Selena Carbonate Replacement project in Nevada, where South32 is earning an initial 60% stake. The silver-gold-lead-zinc project is 1 km west of Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE: FCX) Butte Valley copper-gold porphyry system and 64 km north of the town of Ely.
Ridgeline is also drilling two of its own projects (Big Blue and Atlas) for the first time.
At Atlas, drill hole AT25-002 cut 5.9 metres grading 0.2 gram gold and 2.43 grams silver from 124 metres.
Ridgeline Minerals has a market cap of $25.15 million.
Silver One Resources
Silver One Resources (TSXV: SVE; US-OTC: SLVRF) plans to complete a PEA before the end of the year at its past-producing Candelaria project in Nevada.
Candelaria was the highest-grade silver producer in Nevada, averaging over 1,200 grams silver-equivalent per tonne from high-grade vein mining between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s. Between 1980 and 1999 open-pit mining by several companies produced about 47 million ounces. Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) closed the open pit and leach operation in 1998 due to low silver prices.
Silver One is now investigating reprocessing silver from the historic leach pads and sees additional opportunities in high-grade silver intercepts down-dip and silver mineralization along strike from the two past-producing pits.
Candelaria hosts 41.2 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 78 grams silver and 0.15 gram gold for 103 million oz. silver and 203,600 million oz. gold. Inferred resources total 11.7 million tonnes at 77.9 grams silver and 0.12 gram gold for 29.5 million silver oz. and 48,400 oz. gold. . The resource includes resources in the historic Mt. Diablo and Northern Belle pits, low-grade stockpiles and a recently released underground resource.
The company plans to resume drilling at Candelaria later this year to expand in-ground mineralization in the near-surface and higher-grade underground targets.
In Arizona, Silver One commissioned induced polarization and magnetotelluric surveys in July to help define drill targets at its Phoenix Silver project.
Silver One Resources has a market cap of $87.40 million.
Be the first to comment on "Spotlight: Southwest United States – Part 2"