Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/937377
F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 29 ver, 5.34 million ounces of gold (5.5% of the world's total production), and 178 mil- lion pounds of copper. Beyond precious metals, other vitally important minerals and metals, such as molybdenum, lithium, gypsum, cop- per and diatomaceous earth are mined in Nevada. Many of those minerals and met- als are critical components in our cars, cell phones, computers, batteries, solar panels, beer production and much more, writes Nevada Mining Association President Dana Bennett. Production from Nevada mines, includ- ing the only lithium mine in the US, has created fabulous wealth for investors such as Barrick Gold founder, Peter Munk, while helping to educate thousands of stu- dents in Canada and elsewhere by funding academic institutions such as the Schulich School of Business at York University. In gold exploration, Barrick's Goldrush Mine is by far the largest development in the state right now. In February 2016, the Toronto-based gold miner said it could spend $2.1 billion through 2020 expand- ing gold mines in Nevada and Peru, with about $1.4 billion of the investment set for the Silver State. The biggest chunk – $1 billion – was earmarked for building an underground mine at Goldrush, a new deposit located about 4 miles southeast of Barrick's Cortez operations near Elko. Once it starts production in 2021, Goldrush could yield 440,000 of gold each year. The deposit has an estimated 8.6 million ounces in gold resources. Barrick has said it expects to produce 2.82 to 2.32 million ounces of gold from its Nevada operations, which combine the Cortez and Goldstrike properties, employing about 3,000 people and 800 contractors. Cortez produced 1.06 million ounces of gold in 2016. Goldstrike pro- duced 1.1 million ounces. The state's other major player is Newmont Mining. The company has been pouring gold in Nevada for over 50 years along a 100-mile corridor in the northern part of the state. Its operations include 11 surface mines, eight underground mines and 13 processing facilities. They include Carlin, Phoenix, Twin Creeks and Long Canyon. In 2016, Newmont produced over 1.6 million ounces from its open pits, underground mines and processing facilities across northern Nevada, also pro- ducing 42 million pounds of copper. The date of first production was 1965. Another Canadian giant, Kinross Gold, is proceeding with an expansion of its Round Mountain Mine in a bid to extend- ing the life of the mine by five years and increase life-of-mine production by 1.5 million ounces. Subject to available financing, Andy Wallace's Cordex Syndicate is preparing for possible drilling this year on 10 of the 14 properties (11 in Nevada) held by Allegiant Gold Ltd., a company that was spun out by Columbus Gold Corp. [CGT-TSX, CBGDF- OTCQX] in early January 2018. The aim is to raise the profile of the US exploration assets by separating them from Columbus Gold's Montagne d'Or (Mountain of Gold) Project in French Giana. The front runners in the Allegiant portfolio are the 100%-owned Eastside property, which hosts an inferred gold resource of 721,000 ounces of gold, and the Bolo property (also 100%-owned), which was the target of a 14-hole, 2,800-metre drill program in 2017. "Throughout its history, Cordex has never really changed," said Wallace. "We are really a boot and leather prospecting company," he said, adding that the syndi- cate tends to emphasize surface sampling. What follows is a roster of other compa- nies and projects that are currently making news in Nevada. Belmont Resources Inc. [BEA-TSXV; L3L-FSE] recently acquired 2,560 acres called the Kibby Basin brine lithium project in Monte Cristo Valley, Esmeralda County, about 65 km north of Clayton Valley. Belmont also staked claims cover- ing about 4,260 acres, adjoining Kibby, increasing the total Kibby Basin land posi- tion to 6,820 acres. The company has been reviewing EOSDIS (Earth-observing sys- tem data and information system) NASA Worldview and the US Geological Survey (USGS) archived satellite data (1996 to 2017) over the Kibby Basin lithium brine exploration project to identify anoma- lies. This data will be used, along with a planned EM geophysical survey and pos- sibly seismic surveys, to pinpoint the higher aquifer probability targets for the next phase of drilling. The EM survey is expected to be completed in January 2018. Canamex Gold Corp. [CSQ-TSXV, CNMXF-OTCBB, CX6-FSE] is engaged in fast-tracking toward development of the Bruner Gold Project in Nye County. The company completed a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Bruner Project in April 2016. A new resource esti- mate was expected to be released shortly. Canamex's Silverton gold property, also in Nevada, is also in the exploration stage. Cornerstone Metals Inc. [CCC-TSXV] has begun drilling at its 100%-optioned Carlin vanadium project in Elko County 14 miles from Carlin. The project hosts one of the largest known primary vana- dium deposits in the US. The objective of the program is to upgrade the historic resource to a current resource, as well as to provide material to conduct metallurgi- cal testwork on vanadium recoveries and investigate the presence and grade of other accompanying elements such as zinc, sil- ver and cobalt. Historic inferred resources are 28 M tons of 0.525% V 2 O 5 (2010 SRK) with a higher grade core. A 20-hole, 1,800-metre infill drill program aimed at NEVADA New production from any of those sites would add to a mining legacy that has made Nevada the fourth best jurisdiction in the world for mining investments, according to the Fraser Institute.