Investment firm Waterton Global Resource Management has announced the receipt of the environment impact statement for its Gemfield project, near Las Vegas, Nevada, making the project one of only a handful of fully permitted, shovel-ready gold mines in the US.
The Gemfield project is located near the town of Goldfield and is part of a prospective land package consisting of about 6 000 ha and 1 150 mining claims.
Over the last five years, the Gemfield project has been subject to project development and optimisation efforts including multiple drill campaigns, substantial metallurgical test work, geotechnical engineering and hydrological studies.
The project has pit-constrained measured and indicated mineral resources of more than 1.5-million ounces of gold at an average grade of more than 1 g/t gold.
Waterton said on Monday that the project, comprising the primary Gemfield deposit and the McMahon Ridge and Goldfield Main deposits, was expected to have an internal rate of return of more than 35%, a payback period under two years, all-in sustaining costs in the lowest quartile and projected average production of 125 000 oz/y.
A feasibility study for the Gemfield project will be in the fourth quarter.