VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Junior gold producer Rye Patch Gold has completed the first gold pour from the new leach pad at the refurbished Florida Canyon mine, in north-western Nevada.
The Vancouver-headquartered project developer poured 485 oz of gold as doré in April from the new south heap leach pad, with the first pour taking place on April 25.
Residual leaching from the old Florida Canyon and Standard Gold mines produced a further 602 oz, the company reported on Monday.
"This is a significant milestone for Rye Patch Gold. The Florida Canyon team has done a phenomenal job on the re-start of the mine and we are excited to be Nevada's newest gold producer. We can now turn our sights to realising the tremendous potential of our other projects along the Oreana Trend and reaching our goal of becoming Nevada's next mid-tier producer," president and CEO William Howald stated.
Rye Patch started irrigation of the newly built south heap leach pad in mid-April, nine months after acquiring the Florida Canyon mine in July 2016. The company plans to ramp up towards commercial production during the current quarter.
According to Rye Patch’s March 2016 preliminary economic assessment, Florida Canyon is expected to produce on average 75 000 oz for eight years at cash cost of $759/oz.