Getchell partial history Getchell lies at the intersection of the Getchell gold belt with the Battle Mountain-Eureka trend, just south of the Turquoise Ridge underground operation owned by Nevada Gold Mines (which is held by Barrick Gold and Newmont, at 61.5% and 38.5%, respectively).
Once this transaction closes, Getchell is expected to become one of the company’s core assets in Nevada, Premier said in its news release.
Getchell was an open pit mining site between 1980 and 1999. Underground test mining was also completed in the early 2010s, and the mine has been on care and maintenance since 2015.
- Prospectors Edward Knight and Emmet Chase discovered gold in 1933 and located the first claims in 1934. With the financial backing of Noble Getchell and George Wingfield, the Getchell Mine, Inc. was organized in 1936 and was brought into production in 1938. In 1938, the mining rate was about 500 tpd of oxide ore and 150 tpd of sulfide ore. Sulfide ore was roasted at 1500 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour and fifteen minutes preparatory to cyanidization. In 1941, a Cottrell electric precipitating unit was installed to save the arsenic that was liberated by roasting the sulfide ore, and in 1943-45, when government wartime restrictions forced the shutdown of many gold producers, Getchell mine was permitted to continue operations as a producer of "strategic" arsenic. In 1943, arsenious oxide was being produced at the rate of 10-25 tpd from furnace fume. Also in 1942, a 227 tonne scheelite flotation plant was built to recover tungsten from Getchell ore. A slack labor supply, and high supply costs forced the gold operations to cease at the end of World War II. The US Bureau of Mines developed a carbon recovery process on site and the mine reopened in 1948 with expanded mill capacity and more underground development, but closed again in mid-1950 when known oxide reserves were exhausted. Gold production was suspended in 1951. From 1951-56, the mill processed tungsten ores mined from throughout the district. Tungsten production ceased in 1957. in 1960, Goldfield Consolidated Mines Co. purchased the interests in Getchell Mine, Inc. from the estates of Wingfield and Getchell. Gold production resumed in June 1962 and continued to December, 1967, when the mine was closed and the mill dismantled. Cyprus Mines formed a joint venture with Goldfield in 1970, with Cyprus as operator. Cyprus dropped the property at the end of 1971. Conoco leased the property from Goldfield in 1972 and completed exploration including over 300 drill holes. Metallurgically difficult sulfide reserves were identified during this program. Conoco subleased the property from 1975 to 1978 to General Electric Co. who conducted tungsten exploration along the margins of the Osgood Stock. In 1981, Conoco purchased the property from Goldfield Corp., but by 1983 had sold the property to First Mississippi for $5 million. At that time the property consisted of 14,100 acres of fee land and almost 5000 acres of unpatented claims, and reserves at the time of purchase were in excess of 750,000 ounces of gold. Mining feasibility and metallurgical studies were initiated in 1984. Heap leaching of waste rock dumps from previous mining operations commenced at the end of fiscal 1985, producing 91 ounces of gold in that fiscal year. By mid-1985, the Getchell property had increased the area of unpatented claims to 13,900 acres. In May, 1987, the board of First Mississippi Corp. authorized open pit mine development and construction of a new mill utilizing autoclave technology to process 3000 tons of ore per day. The mill was completed and production resumed in 1989 combining a traditional cyanide leach circuit with pressure oxidation. The mill started up on oxide ore in February, 1989. Sulfide ore was run through the first pressure oxidation autoclave in April, 1989 followed by the start up of the other two autoclaves in May and June, 1989. By the end of fiscal year 1989, project capital costs stood at $90.3 million, 14% over the June 1987 feasibility study estimate. In fiscal year 1989, overall gold recovery for combined oxide and sulfide mill ores was 89.8%. Heap leaching of waste rock from previous mining operations was completed in fiscal year 1989. Heap leaching continued beyond this date using oxide reserves from the Summer Camp orebody discovered in 1985.
- Production of oxide open pit ore commenced at the nearby Turquoise Ridge mine in 1991 and in the same year, an underground orebody adjacent to the pit area. This ore was to be mined when the pit level was deep enough to provide lateral access. In 1995, FirstMiss Gold changed its name to Getchell Gold. Underground production commenced at Turquoise Ridge Mine in May 1998. On May 27, 1999 Placer Dome completed a merger with Getchell Gold Corporation, resulting in Placer Dome owning 100% of the Getchell gold property. Gold production has been suspended since July 1999 and the property is on care and maintenance. Production from approximately 58% of the property is subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty payable to Franco Nevada Mining Corporation Ltd. Placer Dome wrote off the carrying value of the property in 2001. On October 25, 2001, Newmont Mining Corporation and Getchell Gold Corporation signed a letter of intent under which Newmont would buy ore from the Getchell mine for processing at Newmont's adjacent Twin Creeks mine.
Appears Placer Dome paid $1.1 billion for 2 mines. Then
In late 2001, Placer took a US$292-million writedown on the project after extensive Economic information
Economic information about the deposit and operations
| Operation type | Surface |
| Development status | Producer |
| Commodity type | Both metallic and non-metallic |
| Deposit size | Medium |
| Significant | Yes |
| Discovery year | 1933 |
| Discoverer | Edward Knight and Emmet Chase |
| Year of first production | 1938 |
| Year of last production | 1999 |
| Production years | 1938-1945; 1948-1950; 1962-1967; 1985-1999 |