Historic mining regions, including the American West and Alaska, are seeing another gold rush amid the Trump administration’s executive orders to “Make America Great Again” by scaling up domestic critical mineral production. Here are four companies digging into precious and critical minerals in the U.S. as part of our second instalment in our regular Spotlight feature.
U.S. Gold Corp.
Mountain West-focused U.S. Gold (Nasdaq-CM: USAU) is advancing its main CK Gold project in Wyoming with a recent powerline deal to supply 30 megawatts to the site.
Located near the state capital Cheyenne, CK is an advanced stage gold-copper project in the historic Silver Crown mining district.
The open-pit project could produce about 680 million oz. of gold and 208 million lb. of copper over a 10-year life, according to an updated prefeasibility study released in February. It assumed base case metal prices of $2,100 per oz. gold $4.10 per lb. copper and $27 per oz. silver.
The update outlines a post-tax NPV (at a 5% discount) of nearly $356 million and an IRR of 30%, with net capital costs pegged at $273 million and with a post-tax payback period of 2.1 years.
CK hosts proven and probable reserves of 73.2 million tons grading 0.01 oz. per ton for about 1 million contained oz. gold; 0.17% copper for 260 million lb. copper; and 0.04 oz. per ton for around 3 million oz. silver.
The company plans to use a flotation concentrator at CK as well as Jameson Cell Flotation Equipment for gold and copper recovery in partnership with Glencore (LSE: GLEN) subsidiary Glencore Technology.
U.S. Gold also holds the exploration-stage projects Keystone in Nevada and Challis in Idaho.
The company has a market capitalization of C$261 million.
Western Exploration
Gold and silver-focused Western Exploration (TSXV: WEX; US-OTC: WEXPF) in October released an amended PEA for the Doby Gorge oxide gold deposit at its main Aura project in Nevada.
Aura, about 600 km northeast of Reno, consists of the past-producing Doby, Gravel Creek and Wood Gulch gold and silver deposits.
The PEA, initially released in May was updated in October to reflect higher gold prices. The PEA forecasts a post-tax NPV of $70.7 million and an IRR of about 25%. Initial capital costs are estimated at $115.2 million, with a post-tax payback period of 2.7 years.
AISCs are pegged at $1,172 per oz. assuming a base case gold price of $2,150 per ounce. Western Exploration expects to produce 58,652 oz. of gold annually over a five-year life, with a one-year pre-production period. The mine plan calls for an open-pit and heap leaching operation.
Doby Gorge hosts 13.6 million indicated tonnes grading 0.9 gram gold for 394,000 contained oz. and 3.27 million inferred tonnes at 0.68 gram gold for 71,000 oz. gold, according to the PEA.
A resource update in June for the Gravel Creek deposit boosted inferred gold resources 54% to 3.93 million tonnes at 4.52 grams gold for 571,000 contained ounces. Inferred silver grades 76.9 grams for 9.72 million contained ounces.
Indicated resources at Gravel Creek total 1.33 million tonnes at 5.04 grams gold for 216,000 oz. gold; and 78.7 grams silver for 3.36 million contained ounces.
Wood Gulch hosts 2.74 million inferred tonnes grading 0.75 gram gold and 6.2 grams silver for 66,000 oz. gold and 545,000 oz. silver.
In August, Western launched a 4,000-metre drilling program on a 1.3-km strike length in the Tomasina Fault zone, southwest of Gravel Creek.
Western Exploration has a market capitalization of C$30.4 million.
Western Uranium and Vanadium
As the U.S. government fast-tracks uranium projects, Western Uranium and Vanadium (CSE: WUC; US-OTC: WSTRF) is ramping up processing and development in Utah and Colorado. Through executive orders this year, Trump has prioritized industrial uranium development for domestic energy and national security needs.
Sprawling across five mines in Colorado’s San Miguel County, the Sunday Mine Complex about 390 km southeast of Denver was restarted in 2021. Credit: Western Uranium and Vanadium
Sprawling across five mines in Colorado’s San Miguel County, the Sunday Mine Complex about 390 km southeast of Denver was restarted in 2021 after a hiatus related to Covid-19, and in anticipation of growing energy demands. The company made a one-year purchase deal with Energy Fuels (TSX: EFR; NYSE-A: UUUU) in April for up to 25,000 tonnes of ore. In June, the company began delivering ore from the Sunday mine to Energy Fuels’ White Mesa Mill in Utah, the only conventional uranium mill in the U.S.
In October, Western closed the acquisition of lode claims near its proposed Mustang mineral processing plant in Colorado’s Montrose County, 40 km east of Sunday. With the claims close to the Mustang plant, Western can reduce costs for transporting ore. The company is licensing the plant for mineral recovery and could include kinetic separation for better economics.
Located on the Uravan Mineral Belt, Sunday has historic measured, indicated and inferred resources of 2.91 million lb. of uranium oxide (U3O8) grading 0.25% to 0.36% U3O8, and a vanadium to uranium ratio of 6 to 1.
In a mid-year update, Western reported 1,655 feet (about 500 metres) of new core drilling in the GMG drift at Sunday to confirm previously identified ore zones and target new areas. Further drilling is needed to determine geologic resource estimates.
Western in October issued new shares and warrants to raise $5.9 million towards permitting at Mustang.
Western Uranium and Vanadium has a market capitalization of C$44 million.
Westwater Resources
Westwater Resources (NYSE-A: WWR) is on track to become one of the first commercial U.S. producers of natural graphite in decades, at a time when domestic production has been dormant and global supply is heavily reliant on China..
As Alaska becomes a frontier for the coveted battery material, so too does the historic Alabama Graphite Belt, where Westwater’s Coosa mine and Kellyton processing plant are located. The company aims to start mining at Coosa in 2028.
With a post-tax NPV of $190.2 million and an IRR of about 24%, Coosa could produce 2.26 million tons of graphite concentrate over a 22-year life, according to a technical report from 2023. Initial capital costs are pegged at $151.6 million. The report assumes a graphite price of $1,100 per tonne.
Coosa hosts 26 million indicated tons grading 2.9% graphitic carbon (Cg) for 754,000 contained tons of graphite. Inferred resources total 97 million tons grading 3.1% Cg for 3 million tons of contained graphite.
U.S. tariffs slapped on Chinese graphite this summer affected imports valued at about $347 million, putting pressure on domestic producers. Meanwhile, Westwater has continued construction of its $245-million Kellyton processing plant.
Milling and shaping equipment were installed over the summer and 85% of stage one equipment is on site. A graphite purification technology patent filed in September positions the company to provide battery-grade graphite in an automobile manufacturing hub.
Westwater’s $150-million loan application to the Export-Important Bank of the United States is undergoing due diligence review.
Westwater Resources has a market capitalization of $178 million.
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