1 week Ago By Staff report
CHEYENNE, Wyoming — U.S. Gold Corp.
is investigating an enhanced recovery process for the gold and copper that the company plans to mine at its CK Gold Project near Cheyenne before completing its updated prefeasibility study for the operation, according to a recent update from the company. The company, which also owns exploration property in Nevada and Idaho, stated that the processing study and ongoing engineering studies to optimize the project’s economics will be part of the pre-feasibility study. “While gold, copper and silver prices are pushing new highs, the equity markets in the junior sector remain laggard in their response.
Although the CK Project is permitted in principle and ready for development, we have time to accomplish these optimization opportunities,” said Luke Norman, chairman of U.S. Gold.
“Testing alternative, mine-proven flotation technologies offers potential to further increase the economic framework of the mine. Furthermore, we are still looking to build value, based on investigations to commercialize the rock that we mine and set aside to extract gold and copper ore,” he said. He said there is the possibility of an additional revenue stream from the aggregate.
“This commercialization also has the potential to offer alternative closure scenarios where the exhausted pit could serve as future water storage to reduce cost and disruption in the nearby Curt Gowdy Park where current reservoirs are situated,” Norman said. The company stated that the 2021 prefeasibility study called for a 20,000-ton-per-day sulfide concentrator using conventional crush, grind and flotation and uses a series of flotation cells to generate a sulfide concentrate. The alternative to be studied offers the potential, however, to improve metal recoveries and lower capital costs.
Under the alternative, the planned plant would be smaller, the number of flotation cells lower, and the operation would require fewer workers and reduce power consumption, the Sept. 4 U.S.
Gold announcement stated. U.S.
Gold’s original forecast for the gold and copper open pit operation, including the processing plant, called for 200 permanent workers, and the 2021 prefeasibility study calls for 1 million ounces of gold production over 10 years and 248.8 million pounds of copper production over 10 years. U.
S. Gold President and CEO George Bee at the CK Gold Project site west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. U.
S. Gold is looking at optimization opportunities as it works on developing the gold and silver project. “The time to make changes to a project is during the initial engineering so that the feasibility study is well thought out and durable,” said George Bee, president and chief executive officer of U.
S. Gold. “Nothing upsets project controls and cost management more than change orders once construction has started.
” He said U.S. Gold will “go into development with a well-engineered project consistent with the permit constraints and optimization for the best possible outcome.
” The engineering studies also are considering tailings management facility optimization, including a review of the stacking sequence, access roads, and the overall design of the facility. The company reported that operation and cost improvements for the tailings management facility are possible. Water management is another area of review.
The company has an agreement in place with the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities to purchase water to operate the mine. Tierra Group International is evaluating the possibility of improving water harvesting within the property boundary and looking at storage capacity, according to U.S.
Gold. The CK Gold Project is 20 miles west of Cheyenne on state land, so the State of Wyoming’s education system would benefit from royalties on production. Norman said any potential changes to the planned mining operation “would be subject to discussion with interested parties and additional permitting.
” The company changed its headquarters to Cheyenne from Elko, Nev., to focus on the CK Gold Project, but still has the Keystone property on the Cortez Trend in Nevada and the Challis Gold Project in Idaho. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.
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