Canadian gold producer Scorpio Gold Corp (CVE:SGN) has kicked off a drilling programme on a heap leach pad at its Mineral Ridge project in Nevada in a bid to potentially recover up to 130,000 ounces of gold.
The work consists of 34 holes to provide sampling of around 6.3mln tonnes of mineralized material contained within the pad
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Earlier this month, Scorpio received approval from the relevant Nevada agency for its previously submitted engineering design change to potentially exploit material from this heap leach pad using a new processing mill.
Based on its own estimates, the miner reckons that the pad contains around 6.3 million tonnes of material grading 0.61 gram per tonne, for an estimated remaining gold inventory of between around 120,000 and 130,000 ounces of gold.
Scorpio's chief executive Brian Lock added : "This program will provide Scorpio Gold with confirmation of the pad resource and the feasibility of constructing a milling facility for the mine site, providing the avenue to potentially recover an estimated 120,000 to 130,000 ounces thought to be remaining on the pad as well as the potential for up to 95-per-cent recovery of future mineralization mined at Mineral Ridge."
Scorpio Gold holds a 70% interest in the producing Mineral Ridge gold mine in Esmeralda county, Nevada, with joint venture partner Elevon having 30%.
It is a conventional open-pit mining and heap-leach operation, and it is host to multiple gold-bearing structures, veins and lenses at various stages.
Scorpio also has 100% of the advanced exploration-stage Goldwedge property in Manhattan, Nevada, with a fully permitted underground mine and 400-tonne-per-day mill facility