The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed the Record of Decision (ROD) during July for Waterton Mining's Spring Valley project, located 50 miles south of Winnemucca, Nev., in Pershing County, just north of Coeur's Rochester mine. The decision marks the first Federal approval of a domestic gold mine project in more than a decade. Spring Valley could soon become the largest independent gold mine in the country.
"The Spring Valley Project will be Nevada's next long-life heap leach gold mine," said Isser Elishis, chairman and CEO of Waterton Mining. "The significance of this project will be far-reaching, creating thousands of high-paying jobs. We are grateful for President Trump, Secretary Burgum, and Nevada State Director Jon Raby's support of our project. I would also extend my gratitude to all stakeholders involved in the ROD process."
Operated by Solidus Resources, a Waterton Mining subsidiary, the Spring Valley mine will be a large, heap leach gold project. Mining operations will consist of a single open pit using hydraulic excavators and 320-ton haul trucks operating autonomously. The mine, which will also use autonomous drilling technology, is expected to move nearly 1 billion tons of material.
The Spring Valley orebody contains 3.8 million oz of gold in proven and probable mineral reserves at an average gold grade of 0.016 oz/ton. Over the course of a 10-year-plus life, the mine's production is expected to average more than 300,000 oz/y of gold, with 348,000 oz/y gold over the first five years. Life-of-mine (LOM) all-in sustaining costs (AISC) are estimated to be $1,103/oz gold.