Fourmile another Barrick Nevada golden spike

Fourmile gold exploration project in the Cortez Trend is shaping up to be Barrick Gold's next gold spike in Nevada as exploration shows the company may have a monster deposit on its hand, chief executive Mark Bristow told Mining Journal.

Drilling intersections of 34.7m grading 45.43gpt are reminiscent of earlier days in the Nevada gold story. "Once you get breccia shape right, you could be adding 1.5Moz, which is very material. It is surprising us on the upside," said Bristow.

In September, the company released details from a conceptual preliminary economic assessment on the project which outlined annual production of 300,000-400,000ozpa with a resource grade of more than 10gpt, for more than 15 years.

Fourmile also gives the Barrick board a champagne problem. Fourmile is not part of the Nevada Gold Mines (NGM) joint venture with Newmont and it sits next to the Goldrush mine that is. Under the NGM joint venture agreement, Barrick can access Fourmile from Goldrush for exploration. The deposit at Fourmile is more than 1km deep, and so underground access via Goldrush helps expedite exploration through shorter and more precisely targeted holes. However, a future Fourmile development scenario may not use Goldrush mine infrastructure.

The environmental impact statement for Goldrush was signed off in late October, which means that it could soon be in receipt of a Record of Decision and be fully permitted in a matter of weeks. Commercial production from Goldrush is planned for 2026, and with permits in hand, underground development can ramp up, as will mining and processing knowledge, which would also benefit Fourmile.

At some point, Barrick and its JV partner Newmont will need to decide if, when and how to bring Fourmile into the NGM fold. Under the NGM JV agreement, once Fourmile reaches specific commercial triggers, Barrick has the right to roll it into NGM, and Newmont will need to either pay or dilute its NGM ownership position.

"I haven't tried to negotiate anything at this stage, but at some point, Tom [Palmer, Newmont chief executive] and I need to sit down and explore the different ways that Fourmile could benefit the joint venture in Nevada. … By next year, we will have a good idea of the potential, but we will be nowhere near defining the detail," said Bristow.

When Fourmile reaches the feasibility stage, Newmont will have to reimburse Barrick for its share of the feasibility costs.

"The twin development drive [at Goldrush] goes to the boundary with Fourmile, and we can make use of that under the JV agreement to access Fourmile. … There are other access areas that are probably more efficient for Fourmile and Goldrush as the exploration declines put into mine Goldrush come out halfway up the hill, and we have to truck down the hill and around the mountain to the process facilities in Carlin. Using previously permitted mining pits we can access Fourmile from the north and create more efficient routing and bring the material closer to the processing facility," said Bristow.

Fourmile is just one of the many opportunities Bristow says Barrick is uncovering in Nevada.

At Leeville on the parallel Carlin trend to the east, exploration continues to encounter extensions to the north. "We have visibility on significant ounces that are growing by the day," said Bristow.

At Turquoise Ridge on the Getchel Trend, exploration NGM may by closing in on another potentially big prize. "This is the only mega pit in the district where no one has found a feeder. We are looking for that right now, and have drilled a hole with significant alteration, although there is a chance it has been dislocated by a fault," said Bristow.

To the north of Cortez Hills, the Robertson oxide deposit is also shaping up. "Robertson is a multi-million ounce oxide deposit which is critical for Nevada because Nevada is process constrained with regard to refectory facilities, but not oxide milling capacity," said Bristow.