TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Las Vegas, Nevada-headquartered Patriot Gold has accepted the outcome of arbitration it instituted against its optionee Northern Vertex Mining and intends to complete a joint venture (JV) agreement with Northern Vertex, ultimately entering into commercial production at the Moss gold/silver project, in Northwest Arizona.
The arbitrator, retired Justice Robert Rose, ruled that the scope and technical details of the bankable feasibility study provided by Northern Vertex met industry standards and conformed to the exploration and option agreement.
Patriot had asserted that the feasibility study as provided by Northern Vertex did not conform to the agreement as it covered only patented claims and did not sufficiently address the unpatented claims or the surrounding area of interest.
The arbitrator also ruled that about $5.5-million in gold and silver produced and sold by Northern Vertex from its pilot leach plant in conducting testing and analysis of the Moss mine was the property of Northern Vertex. He added that such revenues could be used to cover expenses and fund operations thereof.
Patriot claimed that, while the provisions of the agreement gave Northern Vertex the right to prospect, develop and explore, it did not give it the right to sell the gold and silver ore before completion of the earn-in provisions of the agreement.
The Moss deposit was an epithermal, brecciated, low sulphidation quartz-calcite vein and stockwork system, which extended over a strike length of 1 400 m and had been drill tested to depths of 370 m vertically.
At a cutoff grade of 0.25 g/t gold, the November 2014 updated mineral resource estimate consisted of a measured resource of 4.86-million tonnes, grading 0.97 g/t gold and 10.4 g/t silver for 1.10 g/t gold equivalent and 172 000 oz of contained gold equivalent. The indicated resource comprised 10.62-million tonnes, grading 0.66 g/t gold and 8.7 g/t silver for 0.77 g/t gold equivalent containing 263 000 oz of gold equivalent for a combined measured and indicated resource of 435 000 oz of gold equivalent.
The Moss project currently had 2.18-million tonnes, grading 0.55 g/t gold and 5.6 g/t silver for 0.62 g/t gold equivalent in the inferred resource, containing 43 000 oz of gold equivalent.