Fiore Gold achieves production record at Pan
Fiore Gold Ltd. [F-TSXV, FIOGF-OTCQB] said Tuesday October 20 that it achieved the targets set for its Pan open pit mine in Nevada by producing 46,031 ounces of gold during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2020.
That marked an 11% increase from the previous year and was within the company’s guidance range of 45,000 to 48,000 ounces.
Fiore Gold, launched by financier Frank Giustra, is an Americas-focused gold producer with an initial plan to produce 150,000 ounces of the yellow metal annually, and later emerge as a mid-tier company. Its key Nevada assets include an open pit heap leach operation known as the Pan Mine.
It also has the Goldrock property, a 20,300-hectare land package along the Battle Mountain and Eureka trends that is anchored by the former Easy Junior Mine, which reportedly produced roughly 75,000 ounces of gold in the early 1990s. The company is hoping that by operating the Pan and Gold Rock in unison, it will create a multi-asset, 100% U.S. domestic gold producer.
Gold Rock is estimated to host an indicated resource of 403,000 ounces of gold, plus an additional 84,300 ounces in the inferred category.
To achieve the 150,000 ounce-per-year production target, the company intends to continue to grow gold production at the Pan Mine, while increasing its resource and reserve base and by developing the nearby Gold Rock Project. It also intends to acquire additional production or assets that are near the production stage to complement its existing operations.
“While keeping employee safety at the forefront, Pan successfully set a new annual gold production record as the benefits of transitioning to crushing became evident,” said Fiore CEO Tim Warman.
“At the same time, we continued to focus on our corporate growth goals taking meaningful steps to move all three of our assets forward,” he said.
“With a robust PEA [preliminary economic assessment] in place and rigs already turning at Gold Rock, we look forward to advancing the feasibility study through 2021.”
The other key asset in Fiore’s portfolio is the 100%-owned Golden Eagle Project, located in Ferry County, eastern Washington State. A 2.0 million-ounce measured and indicated resource was published in May, 2020. On top of that is an estimated inferred resource of 200,000 ounces.
However, those estimates are based only on available historical data and are intended to provide a baseline from which to continue developing the project.
Golden Eagle is located in a region known as the Republic/Mining District, which has produced nearly 4.0 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 19.89 g/t gold over the last 130 years, principally from high-grade underground narrow vein deposits.
Fiore has said that combining Golden Eagle with other known deposits and infrastructure in the immediate vicinity, including the adjacent properties held by Hecla Mining [HL-NYSE], could unlock significant value for all parties and could create the basis for a joint venture or spin-out company that would have few peers in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Fiore shares eased 0.63% or $0.01 to $1.57 in light trading. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.75 and 27 cents.