Western USA: treasure chest for the nation


 3 hours ago Resource World


By Ellsworth Dickson

West of the Mississippi, historically, there have been huge metal discoveries and staking rushes such as the Comstock Lode and the 1849 California Gold Rush, In more recent years, Vancouver`s Chester Millar pioneered the heap leach gold recovery process in southeastern California at Glamis Gold’s successful Picacho Gold Mine – a technology now commonly used everywhere.

Today, the Western USA continues to be one of the world’s important mineral producers and a favourite destination for Canadian investment for its prospectivity, secure mineral tenure and ease of access (not counting the temporary COVID-19 restrictions for Canadians with US projects). There are far too many companies to cover; we can only hit a few highlights.

In the northwest, the famous Coeur d’Alene District of northern Idaho has produced tremendous quantities of silver, lead and zinc – and still does at Hecla Mining’s Lucky Friday Mine that has been in production for almost 80 years.

However, the real star of the Western USA is Nevada – the biggest gold producer in the United States. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology has published an official report on the Silver State’s mining operations – Major Mines of Nevada. As reported in the publication, Nevada’s mining industry recorded approximately US$8.1 billion in total value of all commodities in 2019, representing a 3.8% decrease from the US$8.42 billion value recorded in 2018. Nearly 85% of all value was driven by gold and silver, which contributed over US$7.1 billion, based on the actual gross proceeds reported to the Nevada Department of taxation.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Nevada remains the nation’s top gold producer with about 87% (173 tonnes) of the U.S. total (200 tonnes) and would rank fifth in world gold production, behind China (420), Australia (330), Russia (310) and Canada (180).

Nevada is also the scene of numerous exploration ventures seeking gold, silver and copper.

In western Nevada, the flagship project of Eros Resources Corp. is the Bell Mountain Gold Project where a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) was completed in 2017. The gold deposits are amenable to heap leaching – see profile below.

Gold79 Mines Ltd. [AUU-TSXV] is exploring three gold projects; two in Nevada – the Jefferson Canyon and Tip Top gold projects and a third located in Arizona – the Gold Chain Project – see profile below.

Goldcliff Resource Corp. [GCN-TSXV; GCFFF-OTCBB] has a 100% option agreement with Ely Gold Royalties Inc. [ELY-TSXV; ELYGF-OTCQB] to acquire the Aurora West property in Mineral County.

Nevada Copper Corp. [NCU-TSX] owns the Pumpkin Hollow Mine 100 miles southeast of Reno, an underground operation now in production and an open pit development.

Hard rock mining in Arizona generates US$4.29 billion that includes US$482 million in company and employee taxes from a total payroll of US$1.23 billion. In fact, 66% of U.S. copper output came from Arizona in 2018. If Arizona were a country, it would be the seventh largest producer of copper in the entire world. The state consistently produces between 70,000 and 80,000 tonnes of copper per month.

However, Arizona has been a significant gold producer as well. To the end of 2019, Arizona has produced more than 16 million troy ounces (498 tonnes) of gold with a large part a by-product of copper mining.

Northern Vertex Mining Corp. [NEE-TSXV; NHVCF-OTC] reported production of 12,401 gold equivalent ounces for Q4 2020 at its Moss Mine in the Oatman District, northwest Arizona.

Taseko Mines Ltd. [TKO-TSX, LSE; TGB-NYSE American] is in the permitting stage for its in-situ Florence Copper Project 65 miles southeast of Phoenix.

In southeast California, Equinox Gold Corp. [EQX-TSX; NYSE American] produced 141,300 ounces of gold in 2020 from its 100%-owned Mesquite Mine in Imperial County. The company’s Castle Mountain Mine on the Nevada border produced 5,300 ounces after declaring commercial production in late November 2020. It is expected the mine will produce some 200,000 ounces of gold annually.

Also in southeast California, Southern Empire Resources Corp. [SMP-TSXV] is exploring the past-producing Oro Cruz mine and the adjacent 100%-owned American Girl mine property where significant historical gold resource remain from previous operations – see profile below.

Up in the Motherlode country, Providence Gold Mines Inc. [PHD-TSXV] is exploring the optioned Tuolumne property that hosted a past-producing gold mine.