Gold, silver and copper project developer Great Western Mining Corporation has poured the first gold and silver and produced a doré bar as a pilot exercise using material from test spoil heaps on its Mineral Jackpot property in Mineral County, Nevada, in the US.

The success of the trial proves the concept of being able to extract gold and silver from up to 12 000 t of material available from 38 spoil heaps on the property.

The pilot exercise was carried out at a Mineral County facility where an initial load of about 4 t of material was crushed and has been processed through a local laboratory. 

In parallel, analysis of a consignment of the same material is being treated and analysed in a laboratory in the UK to determine the best method for producing precious metals on a sustainable commercial basis, the first results of which are expected to become available later in January. 

In addition to the spoil heaps at Mineral Jackpot (the generic name used for a group of five historic and neighbouring gold mines) recent soil, rock and magnetometer surveys have doubled the known surface area of mineralisation and established previously unknown connectivity between the different mines. 

Great Western plans to follow the veins with new drilling as soon as an appropriate rig suitable for use in the mountainous terrain becomes available and weather conditions permit.

Great Western’s claims in Mineral County cover about 17 000 acres, of which a substantial inferred and indicated resource of copper has been established. Numerous gold and silver prospects on the claims include spoil heaps for reprocessing as well as potential new veins to be drilled.

Meanwhile, Great Western’s first drilling targets for this year are planned for the Rock House group and the Olympic Gold project, both of which were extensively surveyed in 2020.

Great Western chairperson Brian Hall says the pouring of the first gold and silver is a significant event for the company.

“With the knowledge we have gained from this pilot exercise, which is still ongoing, and with first results from laboratory analysis due this month, we will be able to plan for commercial exploitation of precious metals as well as commence a new drill programme. We are well funded for our current requirements.”