The 5,617 hectare (13,879 acre) Mineral Ridge property is located ~6 km northwest of the town of Silver ePeak and 56 km southwest of Tonopah in Esmeralda County, Nevada. Scorpio Gold holds a 100% interest in the project.
Prior to Scorpio Gold's acquisition in March 2010, Mineral Ridge historically produced ~575,000 ounces of gold, including ~170,000 ounces from open pit and ~405,000 ounces from underground mining operations. Upon acquiring its interest, the Company commenced major site rehabilitation to bring the project to a fully operational status. Pre-production mining commenced in the Drinkwater pit on May 31, 2011 and the Company achieved commercial production status effective January 1, 2012.
Mineral Ridge includes the North Star property, which has discovery potential and may host the feeder system that fed gold into Mineral Ridge. There is potential for high-grade gold and better metallurgy, thus a potential discovery could leverage the already established mine and permitting.
A New Approach:
- Geology First: Conduct geological mapping of the entire 17km2 of Mineral Ridge
- Expand Exploration and Drill High-Priority Targets: Focus on North Star with potential for varied geology, alongside drilling inside current mine gates.
- Explore Production Opportunities: Based upon results of exploration work, seek out various production scenarios.
Highlights:
- Mineral Ridge has considerable mining infrastructure, with full permitting and licenses - ready to restart.
- High-grade mineralizaiton across North Star and North Spring targets with multiple surface channel and grab samples greater than 30-32 g/pt gold.
- Considerable exploration potential across the 17km of mineralized strike length on the consolidated ridge.
- Scorpio holds valuable water rights in the region. One of the only other holders of water rights is Albemarle's Clayton Valley Lithium Project.
