mining quarterly summer 2011

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Cover June 2011 Mining Quarterly

PUBLISHED BY THE ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS

QQUARTERLYUARTERLYSummer 2011

Jack Henris, mine manager of Newmont Mining Corp.’ssurface operations on the Carlin Trend, talks about theGold Quarry Mine that returned to production in timefor Newmont’s 90th anniversary.

Newmont Miningmarks 90th year

Adella Harding/photo

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Inside cover June 2011 Mining Quarterly

ELKO — High gold and silver prices andgood demand for copper are sparking moremining projects and more exploration, andthat’s providing jobs and boosting theeconomy.

That enthusiasm in the mining industryalso should be apparent at the Elko MiningExpo June 9-10 at the Elko Con-vention Center, with more boothsthan ever.

Gold prices have been hovering inthe range of $1,500 an ounce in therecent months, and the World GoldCouncil recently reported the out-look for global gold demand remainsrobust throughout this year.

Key factors for high gold pricesinclude uncertainty over the U.S.economy and the dollar, Europeansovereign debt concerns, global in-flationary pressures and tensions inthe Middle East and North Africa, the WorldGold Council stated.

The higher commodity prices are spurringcompanies to increase production or start pro-duction, and the oldest of the American-basedgold producers, Newmont Mining Corp., hasits eye on staying in Nevada for some time.

Newmont, which is celebrating its 90thanniversary this year, plans to soon start theGenesis Project on the Carlin Trend, hasstarted site work at Emigrant south of Carlinand is back mining at Gold Quarry after reme-diating a giant pit slide.

Stories on Newmont’s anniversary andsurface mine projects are inside this edition.

The company also has the Exodus and PeteBajo underground projects, not to mentiondeveloping the first underground project atTwin Creeks Mine in Humboldt County.

Newmont also is excited about the poten-tial of properties acquired from Fronteer Goldand more on that is inside this MiningQuarterly.

Barrick Gold Corp. is expecting to producemore than 1.4 million ounces of gold this yearat the Cortez Mine that is now operating at fullthrottle after a partial court-ordered injunc-tion ended.

Barrick also is heavily exploring at Tur-quoise Ridge to find out if a giant open pit isfeasible, and work continues on permitting forthe Arturo Project near Dunphy.

Stories on Cortez and Turquoise Ridge alsoare inside.

Kinross Gold Corp. is preparing Gold Hill tobegin mining it as a satellite to the RoundMountain Mine in Nye County, and an update

is inside.Great Basin Gold continues producing gold

from the Hollister Project in Elko County on atrial-mining basis, and Klondex just started anunderground decline to trial mine in LanderCounty. More on these projects inside.

On the silver side, Coeur d’Alene Mines isset to resume mining at the RochesterMine near Lovelock, providing aneconomic boost to Pershing County,and an update on Rochester is inside.

On the copper side, NevadaCopper is planning to sink shafts togo underground at its PumpkinHollow Project near Yerington, andNewmont is planning the copperleach project at Phoenix.

Doug Furtado, district managerfor the U.S. Bureau of Land Man-agement at Battle Mountain, said inMay a draft environmental impact

statement on the copper leach project may beout in July.

Then, there is General Moly’s Mt. HopeProject to mine molybdenum. An update onGeneral Moly is inside.

There also are more exploration companiesworking in Nevada than in recent years, at leastit seems that way from the news releasesappearing on the Internet.

Still, new mines take permits, and thosetake time, often four to seven years.

Furtado said he considers Newmont’sBuffalo Valley Project near Phoenix as a pilotproject in the state BLM’s efforts to speed uppermitting.

“Buffalo Valley is the first project startingfrom scratch to reduce mining permit times.My goal for the Buffalo Valley Project is to havean EIS within 14 to 15 months, which will beunprecedented,” he said.

The plan is for companies to come to theBLM after a preliminary determination thatthey plan a new mine rather than after theyhave a plan of operations so the BLM can workwith the company on baseline studies rightaway.

“Then, we can just blast right through theEIS. It will potentially cut years out of the EISprocess,” Furtado said.

Elko BLM District Manager Ken Miller saidall the districts will be working to speed uppermitting under the state BLM’s new policy.

———————Adella Harding is mining editor of the Elko

Daily Free Press, and mining coverage appearson the elkodaily.com website. Her e-mailaddress is [email protected].

SUMMER 2011 ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS, Elko, Nevada 1

— INSIDE —90TH ANNIVERSARY

Newmont busy in Nevada—

CORTEZ MINEStepping up production— Page 15

HOLLISTER PROJECTHigh grade gold— Page 24

CASHMAN EQUIPMENT Company’s 80th anniversary— Page 58

LEEVILLE MINETesting bio-diesel fuel— Page 62

Find the jobyou want

— Pages 86-87Employment

MINING QUARTERLYJohn Pfeifer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PublisherAdella Harding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editor

To advertise, call 775-738-3118Mining Quarterly is published in March,June, September and December by the Elko Daily Free Press (USPS No. 173-4320)

at 3720 Idaho Street, Elko, Nevada 89801, by Lee Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises.Periodical postage paid at the Elko Post Office. For change of address write 3720 Idaho St., Elko NV 89801

AAddeellllaaHHaarrddiinngg

Mining companies lookfor golden opportunities

10 MINING QUARTERLY, Elko, Nevada SUMMER 2011

Officer Aaron Regent described TurquoiseRidge in the company’s first-quarterearnings report as a high-grade under-ground mine “surrounded by a low-grade halo of gold ore.”

The proposal under study would in-volve developing the surface mine whilestill mining underground, but first comethe studies and permitting.

Turquoise Ridge General ManagerBrent Kristof estimated the open pitwouldn’t go into production until be-

tween 2018 and 2020.Barrick Gold of North America oper-

ates the joint venture and is the 75 per-cent owner, with Newmont Mining Corp.owning the remaining 25 percent andprocessing the ore from the undergroundmine at its nearby Twin Creeks Mine.Newmont is also contributing to theaccelerated spending to look into theopen pit potential.

“The budget for exploration this year

Brent Kristof, left,general manager ofthe Turquoise RidgeJoint Venture, talkswith Steve Brower,the new project man-ager for Barrick GoldCorp.’s effort todetermine whether agiant open pit is fea-sible at Turquoise.

Adella HardingMining Quarterly

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyJack Bernard, left, a consulting geologist from Reno, uses a hammer on a “contact” of limestoneagainst basalt on a hillside on the Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture property. With him is Bob Morrellof Winnemucca, district geologist for Barrick Gold Corp., which operates Turquoise Ridge.

Turquoise ...

See TTUURRQQUUOOIISSEE,, 11

CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 99


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyThe Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture is looking at the potential of a giant open pit that would cover much of this area. However, the shopin the foreground and the old Getchell schoolhouse to the right are beyond the proposed pit walls. To the far left are the headframesfor the underground mine, and they would eventually go. At the upper right are old pits that would be swallowed by the new.

is $40 million and $18 million for engineering,”Kristof said, and that compares with the usual $10million to $15 million spent on exploration at theTurquoise Ridge site.

Marlowe said there are currently 14 drill rigs onthe property, including core and reverse circulationrigs on the surface and underground, and his explo-ration division has nine contract geologists, five per-manent geologists and openings for three more.

The drilling companies with rigs on site are MajorDrilling, Connors Drilling and Boart Longyear.

GGiiggaannttiicc ppiittLooking at the Turquoise Ridge site from high

above, Marlowe pointed out that the old GetchellNorth Pit, the Getchell Main Pit, land to the left andright of the pits, the remaining buildings of the oldGetchell townsite, the administration building andeven the headframes for the underground would allbe gone when the giant pit is fully developed.

“We would start mining along the Getchell Faultand work our way toward the north,” he said.

“The sequence would be south to north, and itwould be 15 years to mine through the headframes,”Kristof said in May.

He said if the shafts are mined out, TurquoiseRidge would plan ahead and could develop portals in

Turquoise ...




Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyDriller James Mullins operates a Major Drilling rig on the Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture property in Humboldt County,where Barrick Gold Corp. is exploring to help determine the feasibility of a large open pit at the site.

the pit to continue mining the North Zone underground.The pit would be about two miles long, 1.7 miles across and

2,900 feet deep, Marlowe said, and old waste dumps would bemined out, as well.

The pit would stop before reaching the limestone quarry on theTurquoise Ridge property. R.E. Munks is the contractor operatorfor the quarry that supplies aggregate for underground backfill.

Barrick recently named Steve Brower as the project manager forthe Turquoise Ridge project.

“At this point it’s study and evaluating whether it’s economic tomine an open pit as well as underground,” said Brower, who will bebased at Barrick Gold of North America headquarters in Salt LakeCity but spend a lot of time at Turquoise Ridge.

He was the project manager for Arturo, a project Barrick andjoint venture partner Goldcorp Inc. plan to develop at the site ofthe Dee Mine northwest of Carlin.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Elko public affairs spe-cialist, Lesli Ellis-Wouters, said in mid-May the environmentalimpact statement on Arturo is in the interdisciplinary reviewprocess, and the goal is to have the draft EIS out late this summeror in the early fall.

Simon Pollard, the chief geologist for Turquoise Ridge opera-tions, said the open pit can get the lower grades than the under-ground bypasses.

The cutoff grade for underground ore is 0.25 opt, while the cut-

Turquoise ...




Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyMike Cassinerio, a contract geologist from Winnemucca, logs chips in May from a reverse circulation drilling rig. Heis upstairs in the core building at the Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture property north of Golconda.

Turquoise ...



off for the open pit would be 0.03 opt, he said.The prefeasibility study for the open-pit option will include envi-

ronmental, archaeological and groundwater studies, Kristof said.The open pit would require dewatering.

“One thing going for us is it’s a very disturbed area,” Marlowe said.Although the Turquoise Ridge underground mine is the only cur-

rent operation, there was open pit mining on the site in past years, aswell as another underground mine, the Getchell Underground, nowsealed.

GGoolldd pprroodduuccttiioonnWhile the exploration people are working on the pit potential, the

Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture continues to produce gold ore from theunderground mine, which produced 37,000 ounces of gold forBarrick’s share in the first quarter, up from 34,000 ounces in the2010 quarter.

“We’re mining on budget so far this year. The grade is about 11 per-cent higher,” Kristof said.

The average ore grade is 0.506 ounces per ton.For both owners combined, the operation produced 48,711 ounces

in the first quarter, compared with 37,961 ounces last year, andKristof said that’s 28 percent higher than budgeted.

Cash costs in the first quarter were $525 per ounce, down from$574 per ounce in the 2010 quarter.

The mine employs roughly 350 people, and there are 170 contrac-tors on site, according to Kristof.


Work on site in addition to the explo-ration work for the pit feasibility includesunderground exploration in the NorthZone and construction of an under-ground batch plant.

The new batch plant will cost $36 mil-lion and should be completed in the thirdor fourth quarter of next year, Kristofsaid.

The North ore zones are one mile fromthe shafts.

Turquoise Ridge also expects to com-plete a new warehouse in August to storeall the core from the exploration drillingnow and in the past.

Kristof said plans to construct a con-veyor system underground may be put onhold, however, pending a determinationof whether the open-pit mining will beeconomical.

“If we had known what’s here, wewould have had an open pit to begin

with,” said Pollard, talking about thepotential for an open pit.

Turquoise Ridge’s current goldreserves total 5.4 million ounces andresources total 1.9 million ounces, butthe conceptual resources for the open pitare 18 million ounces.

MMiinniinngg sscchhoooollTurquoise Ridge also just completed

an underground-mining school for eightstudents, the first academy Barrick hasheld for new hires in a couple of years.

“All eight stayed. Most of them arepeople who live in the area this time,”Kristof said.

Turquoise Ridge was holding as manyas seven school sessions in a year to trainminers, but he said that with the eco-nomic downturn, the turnover waslower.

The mine started the academy in 2006to meet the demand for undergroundminers.

Turquoise ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 1133

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyJack Farrar of Orlando, Fla., left, an account representative with Baroid Industrial DrillingProducts, talks in May with Jeremy Orner of Mason, Utah, who is pouring a bag of bentonite intoa Major Drilling rig at the Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture operation in Humboldt County.


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyMining equipment is busy in May on three sides of Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez Hills Pit in Lander County.The gold mine continues to grow and will go into the area in the foreground, where a viewing stand is now.

BByy AADDEELLLLAA HHAARRDDIINNGGMining Quarterly Editor

CRESCENT VALLEY — Four giantelectric shovels are digging awayand loading haul truck after haultruck at the Cortez Hills open pit asBarrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez Mineheads toward a goal of producingmore than 1.4 million ounces of goldthis year.

The ore is coming from the CortezHills Pit and the Cortez Hills under-ground operations, and all of theshovels and trucks are on duty atCortez Hills now, rather than anymining at the Pipeline Complex.

“There has been no mining atPipeline since March, but we will goback in a few months,” said KittDale, the technical services managerat Cortez Mine and acting generalmanager.

Dale is the acting general manageruntil Brian Grebenc arrives tobecome the general manager toreplace Joe Dick, who is now general

manager at the Pueblo Viejo Projectin the Dominican Republic.

Grebenc will be coming to Cortezin July from Australia, said KatieNeddenriep, community relationssupervisor for Barrick Gold of NorthAmerica.

The mining may be on hold atPipeline, but the mill, assay labora-tory and main offices are at thePipeline end of Cortez Mine, and orefrom Cortez Hills that is processedat the mill moves along a 9.5-mileconveyor system.

Dale also said Cortez will startmining the Crossroads deposit at thePipeline end of the site in 2013.

“Some time in June we will pourour 15th millionth ounce at Cortez,and 12 million of that is since theopening of Pipeline,” he also said.“Also, 2012 will mark 150 years ofessentially continuous mining in theCortez District.”

Modern mining began in the

Cortez Hills steps up production

See CCOORRTTEEZZ,, 16


Mike Protani,left, the open pitmanager at theCortez Mine inLander County,and Kitt Dale,acting generalmanager andtechnical ser-vices managerfor Cortez, talkin May about theCortez Hills Pit.


Cortez ...



1960s in the district, and the Cortez millwent into operation in 1969, but the minewas much smaller before the Pipelinediscovery.

GGoolldd pprroodduuccttiioonnToday, Cortez has roughly 1,100 em-

ployees and 200 to 400 contractors onsite. The mine produced 366,000 ouncesof gold in the first quarter of this year,compared with 275,000 ounces in the2010 quarter, and cash costs were $227per ounce, down from $271 per ounce lastyear.

“Cortez continues to exceed expecta-tions and is performing above plan,”Barrick President and Chief ExecutiveOfficer Aaron Regent said in the first-quarter earnings teleconference.

He also said the Cortez Hills opera-tions are “a terrific addition to our port-folio.”

Dale said Cortez’s current goal of morethan 1.4 million ounces this year is possi-ble now that the mine isn’t under a tai-lored injunction that restricted the

transport of refractory ore to Barrick’sGoldstrike Mine for processing and lim-ited mine dewatering at Cortez Hills.

“Now, we’re in the middle of reallyaccelerated efforts to catch up with lostground,” Dale said.

Cortez produced 1.14 million ounces in2010.

Most of the ore trucked to Goldstrikecomes from the Cortez Hills under-ground mine, and most of it is processedat Goldstrike’s autoclaves, he said. Theunderground mining held back from theareas of refractory ore while the injunc-tion was in effect.

“Now, we’re building a team to operatethe mine into the future,” said MikeProtani, the open pit manager for theCortez operations.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Managementissued a record of decision in mid-Marchthat lifted the injunction that the U.S.District Court in Reno put into effect inanswer to a ruling from the 9th CircuitCourt of Appeals over Cortez Hills.

The Western Shoshone Defense Pro-ject, the Te-Moak and Timbisha tribesand Great Basin Resource Watch filed theappeal over concerns about Cortez HillsProject’s potential environmental andwater impacts and impacts to Mount

Tenabo, which they said was sacred tothe Western Shoshone.

At Cortez Hills, surface mining is inPhase III, and Protani said Phase IV willmove into the area where the viewingstand is now in late summer.

“They hit mining rates of 500,000tons per day at the open pit,” Dale said,adding that the underground mining rateis as high as 1,500 tons per day.

Protani also said the pit eventually willgo 900 feet deeper to reach the under-ground mine.

“We will even mine some undergroundbackfill from the open pit,” Protani said.

He said the Cortez fleet includes 24 ofthe 400-ton Liebherr haul trucks, two330-ton Komatsu haul trucks, 11 240-tonKomatsu trucks and two 350-tonCaterpillar haul trucks, as well as anhydraulic shovel and a loader.

SSuuppeerrvviissoorryy wwoorrkksshhooppAs part of Cortez’s efforts to improve

efficiencies and safety, the mine is trying anew approach — the Supervisory Invest-ment Workshop geared to front-linesupervisors — and a rotation of man-agers are assigned to each of the three-week workshops, according to Dale.

Each workshop has about 10 people


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyMike Protani, left, the open pit manager at Barrick Gold Corp,’s Cortez Mine, talks in May withJohn Tucker, who just transferred from Barrick’s Goldstrike Mine to be the tire shop supervisor.They are standing in front of a tire on a 400-ton haul truck in the Cortez Hills truck shop.

Cortez ...



participating, and Cortez has invitedsupervisors from other Barrick opera-tions in Nevada too.

“Rather than just throw the keys tosomeone, we decided its time to engagein a structural program to provide super-visors with the tools to do what weexpect them to do,” Dale said. “The maingoal is to raise the level of performance.”

“It’s about being out in the field andworking with people,” said MarieByington, human resources and trainingmanager.

The workshop includes inspectingfacilities, and Dale said standards are ris-ing throughout the property, which maybe attributed to the program.

Another Cortez manager preparing forthe next the workshop, Charlie Beatty,said a lot of supervisors “don’t realize thehuge resource on site,” and the work-shops offer them a chance to learn aboutthe other departments and the manyskills available at the mine.

Steve Cohen is the project manager forthe Supervisory Investment Workshop.

MMeettaall--rreemmoovvaall ppllaannttCortez also has a unique metal-

removal plant now in operation for orefrom the underground mine, using aseries of magnets to pull the metals out

before the ore is sent to the mill atPipeline or taken by truck to Barrick’sGoldstrike Mine for processing in theautoclaves.

Dale said one reason for the metalremoval is so ore eventually can be movedon the conveyor system that extendsfrom Cortez Hills to the Pipeline mill, butthe ore isn’t being placed on the convey-or yet.

The metals that the plant removes arebolts, plates and screens used in under-ground mining to support the ground andlater mined out. The metals are recycledas scrap.

“We thought it was much better, muchsafer to have an automated system,” Dalesaid. “We had to develop it with a seriesof vendors.”

While mining goes on, drilling rigs arebusy on the property as well. One BoartLongyear rig is doing technical test holesto help locate a new portal and RangeFront decline site that Cortez may use forthe underground mine to gain anotheraccess, Dale said.

The new portal will take miners to anorebody that heads west from the currentoperations.

Also under way is a development of a


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyKitt Dale, the acting general manager at Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez Mine in Lander County andthe mine’s technical services manager, stands in front of the new metal removal plant at themine. Three magnets pull any metals, such as screens, bolts and plates, from ore from theunderground Cortez Hills operations. The scrap metal is recycled.

Cortez ...




Liebherr mech-anics work on a400-ton haul truckat the Cortez Hillsoperations in Lan-der County. Lieb-herr has facilities inElko. Ahren Anthonyof Elko is standingin the bed of thesmaller truck.


Cortez ...



blind bore that will provide ventilation tothe underground mine. The blind borethat will be 14 feet in diameter is calledthat because all the work is done from thetop, rather than underground.

“It’s the first in Nevada,” Dale said.Drilling rigs also are exploring and

doing hydrology work, he said, and onelarge rig is dewatering at Crossroads inpreparation for mine development there.

Cortez Mine is permitted to dewaterup to 34,500 gallons per minute fromPipeline and Cortez Hills combined.

Dale said construction will be in fullswing this summer to move a portion ofthe county road that leads to Cortez Hillsfor a new tailings dam at Pipeline. Cortezmoved another part of the road earlierbecause of construction of Cortez Hillsfacilities.

Dale also said debottling improve-ments at the Pipeline mill are nearlycompleted and more than 11,500 tons ofore per day are moving through the mill.


ELKO — The Elko Mining Expo hasmore booths this year than ever, and theElko Convention and Visitors Authorityexpected to be sold out or nearly so beforethe June 9-10 exhibition as high goldprices entice more companies to come toElko.

“I think it will be very successful, withthe price of gold and the amount of inter-est we’ve had so far,” said Jen Stotts, eventscoordinator for the ECVA.

The price has been in the range of$1,500 an ounce since April, sometimesdipping a little below and sometimes ris-ing well above that mark.

“We’ve geared a lot of marketing toattendance,” Stotts said, which includesencouraging vendors to come to the Expoeven if they don’t get a booth so they canmeet others and talk about their products.

“There is a wide range of people whocome through — miners and businesspeople looking to buy equipment and thenewest technologies. It’s kind of a one-stop shop,” she said.

Stotts said the ECVA is seeing the returnof mining companies that hadn’t hadbooths in recent years.

The Expo has 469 booths, including 48new ones to be set up in Elko Main CityPark that sold out quickly.

“Everything is sold out except over-flows. The only ones left are some alongthe fence line, but they are filling up,”Stotts said on May 18, at which time shereported there were 374 exhibitors so far.Some take more than one booth space.

Expo week begins on June 6 when theannual golf tournament at Ruby View GolfCourse kicks off the event, and the golftournament sold out early.

“We’ve been sold out since February,”said Lou Schack, director of communica-tions and community affairs for BarrickGold of North America and the tourna-ment chairman.

“It’s incredible how many people signup and the demand for participation in allthe Expo events. We’ve very thankful to allthe sponsors who make it possible,” he said.

The awards banquet that follows thetournament the evening of June 7 also issold out.

Cashman Equipment, which is markingits 80th anniversary this year, is sponsor-ing the tournament banquet.

Newmont Mining Corp., which is cele-brating its 90th anniversary this year, is

sponsoring the kickoff banquet on June 8at Stockmen’s Hotel & Casino, and Stottssaid the banquet is also expected to be soldout.

The banquet’s feature speaker will beJames Stefanic, operations manager forGeotec Boyles Bros. and one of the leadrescuers when 33 miners were trapped inan underground mine in Chile.

“This should be very, very interesting,”Stotts said.

The exhibition opens at 9 a.m. June 9,and hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 9 and 9a.m. to 3 p.m. the following day.

Visitors will have a chance this year tosee large haul trucks that Komatsu plans todisplay, including a 100-ton truck that issold to the Jerritt Canyon Mine north ofElko and will be delivered after the show,according to Travis Mullins, Komatsu’sElko branch manager.

He said Komatsu also may display a 60-ton vehicle that M-I SWACO at BattleMountain purchased. Cashman also willhave big mining equipment at the Expo,according to the company.

The Minor Miners event for childrenwill be back from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. bothdays, and there will be a playland in thepark. The Expo also will feature a newProduct Showcase in the convention cen-ter June 9 and 10.

“There is no fee to attend and no fee topresent it. We had a lot of interest, and itis full,” Stotts said.

TThhee sscchheedduullee iinncclluuddeess:: FLSmidth, 9 a.m.June 9, overview of products, services andengineering capabilities; 2 p.m. June 9, devel-opments of the millMAX pumps; 9 a.m. June20, pneumatic conveying technologies; PlattElectric, 9:30 a.m. June 9, power tools; noonJune 9, thermal imaging; 11 a.m. June 10, ther-mal imaging; Extreme Duty Filtration, 10 a.m.June 9 and 10 a.m. June 10, bypass filtrationunits; Hanlon Engineering, 11 a.m. June 9,water treatment and residual resource recov-ery; Victaulic, 1 p.m. June 9, grooved pipingproducts and mechanical joining systems;AFEX Fire Suppression, 1:30 p.m. June 9, firesuppression systems on mobile mining equip-ment; Monarch Mining Systems, 2:30 p.m.June 9, water technologies; FLIR InfraredCameras, 3 p.m. June 9, thermal imagerycameras; Furgro Horizons Inc., 4:10 p.m. June9, aerial mapping for large-scale mines; VeoliaWater Technologies, 4:40 p.m. June 9, waterclarifiers; and AdEge Technologies, 9:30 a.m.,water treatment solutions for mining applica-tions.


Elko Mining Expo may be biggest yet

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyKelly Black works on the assembly of a 100-ton Komatsu haul truck at the Elko yard in May. Thetruck will be displayed at the Elko Mining Expo June 9-10 and then go to the buyer, the JerrittCanyon Mine north of Elko. EExxppoo mmaapp oonn ppaaggee 8833


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyNew hires at Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez Hills operations in Lander County gather in May under the bed of a400-ton haul truck in the shop during an orientation tour. The two men in the foreground are Mike Protani,open pit manager, and Kitt Dale, acting general manager, who briefly chatted with the group.

Cortez ...



BBaarrrriicckk eeaarrnniinnggssCompanywide, Barrick reported a 22 percent rise in net income to $1 bil-

lion, or $1 per share, in the first quarter due to higher gold and copper pricesand lower costs.

Barrick’s net income without adjustments in the first quarter comparedwith $820 million in the first quarter of last year, and adjusted net incomefor the 2011 quarter was up 32 percent to $1 billion, $1.01 per share, com-pared with $763 million, or 78 cents per share, last year.

Barrick also reported gold production totaled 1.96 million ounces in thefirst quarter, produced at a total cash cost of $437 per ounce and a net costof $308 per ounce, compared with 2.06 million ounces in the first quarterof last year at total cash costs of $392 per ounce.

The North American region produced 862,000 ounces in the quarter at atotal cash cost of $396 per ounce, compared with 729,000 ounces at a totalcash cost of $456 per ounce.

Barrick reported Goldstrike north of Carlin produced 286,000 ounces ofgold at a total cash cost of $461 per ounce in the quarter from the Betze-Post Pit and Meikle underground operations, compared with 280,000ounces in the first quarter of last year at a total cash cost of $533 per ounce.

Turquoise Ridge produced 37,000 ounces of gold for Barrick’s 75 percentshare in the first quarter, up from 34,000 ounces in the 2010 quarter.Newmont Mining Corp. owns the remaining 25 percent.

Also in Nevada, the Round Mountain Mine in Nye County produced39,000 ounces in the first quarter for Barrick’s 50 percent share, down from


41,000 ounces in the 2010 quarter. Kinross Gold owns the other halfand operates Round Mountain.

The Bald Mountain Mine in White Pine County, 100 percent Barrickowned, produced 15,000 ounces in the quarter, up from 13,000 lastyear as the mine continues an expansion project.

The Ruby Hill Mine at Eureka produced 36,000 ounces, up from13,000 in the 2010 quarter, and the Marigold Mine near Valmy pro-duced 11,000 ounces for Barrick’s one-third share, down from 15,000in the 2010 quarter. Goldcorp Inc. operates Marigold and owns theremaining two-thirds.

EEqquuiinnooxx aaccqquuiissiittiioonnBarrick also expects to close in June on its proposed acquisition of

Equinox Minerals Ltd. for $7.68 billion for Equinox’s copper produc-tion in Zambia and copper potential in Saudi Arabia.

Barrick defended its decision in the earnings teleconference andBarrick’s annual meeting over concerns that Barrick was moving awayfrom gold.

“Our focus is on gold. That’s our core business,” Regent said in theteleconference.

Peter Munk, Barrick’s founder and chairman, said at the annualmeeting Barrick would be “foolish, suicidal and totally wrong” to takeBarrick’s focus off gold, but the company also needs to be willing toreach out for a deal that would boost cash flow.

Barrick’s acquisition of Equinox would reduce the company’s cur-rent ratio of roughly 90 percent gold production to 10 percent copperto roughly 82 percent gold and 18 percent copper, Regent said in theteleconference.

Barrick Gold Corp.This chart is from a Barrick Gold Corp. presentation on plans to acquire Equinox Minerals Ltd.

Cortez ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 2200


ELKO — One of Barrick Gold Corp.’slargest projects is Pueblo Viejo in theDominican Republic, and the new minewill be part of Barrick Gold of NorthAmerica’s operations.

“This is the largest start-up project forthis region,” Lou Schack, director ofcommunications and community affairsfor Barrick’s North American region, saidshortly after returning from the Domin-ican Republic.

The new general manager is Joe Dick,who until recently was the general man-ager at the Cortez Mine in LanderCounty.

“There are quite a few people fromNevada transferred down there in varioussupervisory and training roles, and thatwill continue for a while as we approachstart-up,” Schack said.

He said there were more than 8,000contractors on site, and the total capitalcosts are more than $3 billion.

The mine will employ roughly 1,500people once it is in production and pro-vide work for a number of vendors in thecountry, he said.

Pueblo Viejo will provide gold produc-tion for more than 20 years.

“It will be one of the big producers inNorth America, along with Goldstrikeand Cortez,” Schack said.

Barrick is the project operator andowns 60 percent of Pueblo Viejo.Goldcorp Inc. owns the remaining 40percent.

Pueblo Viejo is an old mine closedmore than 20 years but now being revivedand expanded.

“There are a lot of existing issues onthe environmental side from the previousoperations so we will be able to mitigateand repair as we go,” Schack said.

Toronto-based Barrick stated in itsfirst-quarter earnings report that pro-duction is expected to begin in the firstquarter of 2012 at Pueblo Viejo.

Barrick’s 60 percent share of annual

gold production in the first full five yearsof operation there is expected to average625,000-675,000 ounces at total cashcosts of $275-$300 per ounces, the com-pany reported.


Nevadans at Barrick’sPueblo Viejo Project

SubmittedBarrick Gold of North America oversees the new Pueblo Viejo Project in the Dominican Republic.From left: Greg Lang, president of Barrick Gold of North America, based in Salt Lake City; JoeDick, general manager of Pueblo Viejo, coming from the Cortez Mine in Nevada; and ManuelBonilla, president of Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corp., a joint venture company with Goldcorp Inc.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyPierce Roberts, left, shift foreman at Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s Hollister underground operations, talks in early May with thegeneral foreman, Chris Corley. Test mining and exploration are under way at Hollister in northwestern Elko County.


GOLCONDA — Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s Hollister operationsare so high grade that a ton of ore represents at least an ounce ofgold, and sometimes much more.

The company reported that in the first quarter of this yearHollister mined 1,025 tons of ore with an average grade of morethan 3 ounces per ton.

The narrow, gold-laden veins at the mine produced 28,500ounces of gold in the first quarter, and the company continuesto explore underground at Hollister to learn more about theBlanket Zone where bonanza grades were found last November.

Hollister discovered the bonanza grades with an averagegrade as high 2,560.4 ounces per ton.

Great Basin President and Chief Executive Officer FerdiDippenaar stated in the first-quarter earnings report that min-ing of the Blanket Zone continued “with a total of 2,961 tonsmined to date, which at grades of 3.75 ounces per ton of goldand 6.55 ounces per ton of silver resulted in 11,382 gold equiva-lent ounces being extracted.”

All of this latest high-grade ore comes at a time when goldprices are in the record range of $1,500 per ounce.

“It’s a good time to be in gold mining. That’s for sure,” saidDoug Crawford, the Hollister mine manager.

Hollister’s high ore grades promising

See HHOOLLLLIISSTTEERR,, 25


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyHollister General Foreman Chris Corley stands on a timber platform at the underground mine. “I actually did this one,” Corley said dur-ing an early May tour. He said he built the support and access with a couple of partners to reach roughly 140 feet up to the next level.

Hollister ...



He said Hollister already took a fair amount ofgold out of the bonanza areas, and the grades are“calming down,” but there may be more pockets ofhigh grades.

“That’s why we’re doing more drilling,”Crawford said in early May.

Steve Konieczki, the technical manager atHollister, described the Blanket Zone as “volcanicrocks up here and sedimentary rocks below. Thegold sat there and boiled and bubbled and concen-trated.”

Hollister isn’t the usual underground mine inNevada because of the narrow veins, which in turnmeans miners work in smaller headings than mostunderground gold mines in northeastern Nevada.

TTiimmbbeerr ssuuppppoorrttFor example, Hollister uses timbers for support

and to build chutes from one level to the next, atried-and-true method that works for Hollister butdoesn’t work for large-scale underground mines.

Chris Corley, general foreman at Hollister,pointed out how timber was used to create anescapeway going 140 feet up from the 5,050-footelevation to the 5,190-foot level.

“I actually did this one with a couple of part-


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyAdam Arthur, left, of Winnemucca and Robert Tresner of Elko operate an American Drilling core rig in early May at Great Basin Gold’sHollister underground operations in Elko County. They are testing the Gwenivere Vein. American Drilling is out of Spokane, Wash.

Hollister ...


CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 2255ners,” he said.

Hollister uses 8-foot by 8-foot timbers and 3-foot by12-foot mine timbers.

Another stope has been set up for training, and thisone also uses timbers.

“It’s like a school stope, basically,” Crawford said.“We’re using guys to pass on knowledge. It’s beingmined for ore while people are being trained.”

Main timbers go between the hanging wall and thefoot wall, he said.

“This has multiple compartments for supplies, man-way and joker chute, or mill hole. Ore falls down to betransferred to a muck bay,” Corley said. “They are learn-ing the complete stope cycle, from start to finish.”

Timbers at the rear of the stope are in front of con-crete foam backfill, and timber is used as a form for theconcrete foam.

“This is one of the original methods of mining, andobviously timber helps support the ground,” Crawfordsaid.

Hollister uses a cut-and-fill method.“The key to success will be narrow-vein extraction.

The current technique works,” Crawford said. “We’restaying with cut and fill and sometimes long-hole stop-ing.”


Hollister ...


CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 2266Hollister experimented with the thermal frac-

turing method, and found that it works but not asefficiently as the cut-and-fill method, he said.

The company is still experimenting, however,with the long-hole stoping and with backfillingalternatives and reviewing cut-and-fill methods,according to a fact sheet from Konieczki.

EEssmmeerraallddaa MMiillllGreat Basin Gold expects to produce 110,000

ounces of gold this year at Hollister, and the ore willbe processed at the company’s Esmeralda Mill nearHawthorne.

“All of the ore is planned for Esmeralda milling,”said Crawford, who has worked at Hollister sincethe spring of 2003 when Hecla Mining still operat-ed the exploration project and earlier worked forHecla at Lucky Friday in Idaho and Rosebud inNevada.

Great Basin Gold reported on May 3 that of the28,500 ounces of gold equivalent produced in thefirst quarter, roughly 17,400 ounces had been soldto an outside refinery the company is using untilthe mill is ready to pour on site.

The delay in gold sales impacted earnings for thequarter, along with other adjustments, according to

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA loader with a 4-yard bucket fills a 30-ton haul truck with waste material in early May at Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s underground Hollisteroperations in northwestern Elko County. Cindy Premo is driving the truck and Larry Johns operates the loader.

the company.Great Basin Gold reported a net loss of

$20.88 million, or 5.14 cents per share, inthe first quarter, compared with a netloss of $6.26 million, or 2 cents per share,in the first quarter of last year.

Cash costs were $670 per ounce in the2011 quarter.

The company stated that Esmeraldawill continue to ship loaded carbon to therefinery until an acid generation systemhas been completed at the mill.

John Davis Trucking takes the ore fromHollister to Esmeralda five days a week,according to Crawford.

Although Hollister is in Elko County,the site is remote. Trucks have to travelfrom Interstate 80 north of Golconda andfollow the road to the town of Midasbefore turning to head for Hollister.

Great Basin Gold was sending thebulk-sampled ore from Hollister toNewmont Mining Corp.’s Midas Mineand Yukon-Nevada Gold’s Jerritt CanyonMine for processing while the EsmeraldaMill was reconditioned to process theHollister ore.

Great Basin Gold reported gold recov-eries are improving at the mill, exceeding90 percent.

Hollister is still in test-mining modeand awaiting U.S. Bureau of LandManagement approval to become a full-production mine.

BBLLMM ssttuuddyyThe BLM is working on the draft envi-

ronmental impact statement for Hol-

lister, and Elko BLM Public AffairsSpecialist Lesli Ellis-Wouters said thestudy is in the process of interdiscipli-nary review.

She said the goal is to have the draftEIS out to the public by late summer orearly fall.

Hollister currently has 110 employeeson site and is actively looking for experi-enced miners, especially miners who

know how to work in a narrow-veinunderground operation, using cut and fillmethods and timber, Crawford said.

“It’s a challenge to qualified people.We do training on our own, and we showtimbering techniques and get them toknow our process.”

Although Hollister has 110 employees,


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyLarry Johns of Winnemucca pauses from his operation of a 4-yard loaderin early May at Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s underground Hollister test-miningoperations in Elko County. He was loading material into a haul truck.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyHollister General Foreman Chris Corley talks with Cindy Premo inearly May at the Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s underground operations inElko County. Premo is driving a 30-ton haul truck.

Hollister ...





CARLIN — Newmont Mining Corp. iscelebrating its 90th anniversary at a timewhen gold prices are at a record.

Newmont President and Chief Exec-utive Officer Richard O’Brien stated inNewmont’s “The Gold Standard” maga-zine that Newmont has a “proud legacyof leadership, innovation, industry firstsand responsibility. We are rapidly movinginto the next phase of our journey, and Isee a bright future for our company.”

Although Newmont was incorporated90 years ago, Newmont didn’t begin pro-ducing gold in Nevada until 46 years ago.

The first gold pour on the Carlin Trendwas on May 4, 1965, when Newmontmade history in the gold industry byopening the first new gold mine in theUnited States in 50 years, according to“Going for Gold,” a Newmont historywritten by Jack Morris.

He wrote that the Carlin operation“breathed new life into Nevada’s econo-my and propelled a company, once notedfor its diversity, into world leadership inproduction of the yellow metal.”

Newmont’s first gold bar poured northof Carlin weighed 92 pounds and wasvalued at $47,000 at the government-fixed price of $35 an ounce, according toMorris. Today, gold is selling in the rangeof $1,500 an ounce, and Newmontemploys more than 34,000 employeesand contractors in eight countries.

As early as the 1920s, Newmont hadtaken interest in a handful of U.S. min-ing, smelting and gold companies —many of which sustained the companyduring the Great Depression, accordingto the Newmont history on its website.

By the 1930s, the company acquiredthree more gold companies in Canada,and opened two lead and zinc mines inColorado.

But the Carlin discovery was revolu-tionary.

The Carlin production was the firstfrom ore containing gold that can’t beseen by the naked eye but could beprocessed using cyanide in large-scale,surface mining.

The company started mining at the

Carlin Main Pit, where mining resumedin May after a few years when Newmontwas mining elsewhere on the CarlinTrend, and the first pit and Mill 1 bringback memories for long-time employees.

“I started in 1980, and Gold Quarrywas not here,” said Dave Sirotek, generalforeman of mine operations in New-mont’s South Area north of Carlin.

He said he worked at Mill 1 and theCarlin Main Pit, and he recalled the earli-er pits after Carlin were Bootstrap, Cap-stone, Genesis and Tara, and Newmont isabout to mine again at Genesis.

Sirotek recalled the equipment was alot smaller than the 240-ton haul trucksnow in use so the number of employees inthe pit operations hasn’t changed thatmuch over the years. He learned how tooperate all the equipment in time.

William “Bronco” Garton, senior mineforeman for Carlin operations, said he

Newmont Mining Corp. celebrates90th anniversary this year

LLEEFFTT:: Dave Sirotek, gen-eral foreman of mineoperations in NewmontMining Corp.’s South Op-erations Area, startedworking for Newmont in1980, and one of his earlyjobs was at Newmont’sfirst pit on the CarlinTrend, Carlin Main, in thebackground. The CarlinEast underground portalis at the bottom.

BBEELLOOWW:: William “Bronco”Garton, left, senior mineforeman for Carlin opera-tions, and John Bailey,senior projects foremanfor Newmont’s Carlin op-erations, stand in mid-May where Carlin Mill 1and related buildingsstood for many years.


See AANNNNIIVVEERRSSAARRYY,, 73

Great Basin Gold has 217 employees inNevada, including those based in theadministration building in Winnemuccaand those operating the mill nearHawthorne, according to Lee Morrison,the human resources manager.

Hollister has 907,000 ounces of goldequivalent reserves and 1.6 millionounces of measured and indicated goldequivalent resources, and the currentmine life is estimated at eight years,according to the company.

Along with the test mining atHollister, the underground explorationcontinues with the operation of threecore drilling rigs, and the BLM hasapproved expanded exploration on thesurface.

According to Great Basin Gold, morethan 30 gold-bearing veins have beendiscovered at Hollister, which is testmining six of these veins and has 11 moreavailable for future efforts.

In addition to the Hollister veins, on-site exploration targets include the Gloriaveins, Velvet Butte trend, the Pit Feederveins and Hatter trend.

Current mine life is eight years, butexploration could extend the mine life.

EExxpplloorraattiioonn hhoolleessThe company reported in April that

during the first quarter, two explorationholes were drilled at the Velvet target and15 holes at Blanket, along with 24 slopedelineation holes.

Great Basin Gold also stated then thatthe Velvet targets would be further tests

by surface drilling this summer.The slope delineation in the quarter

was evaluating the main Gwenivere andClementine veins, and this included asignificant pay shoot where trial miningyield ore with a diluted average grade of2.844 opt of gold and 22.2 opt of silverover lengths of 162 feet and a vein widthof 2.4 feet.

Konieczki said Hollister has excavated

more than 24,500 feet of drift, or rough-ly 4.7 miles, so far, and there are threeactive mining levels. The top level is at5,278 feet elevation, the mid-level area isat 5,190 feet and the deepest is at 5,050feet elevation.

On the safety side, Hollister showed an87 percent improvement in the number


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlySteve Deneef just arrived back on the surface in early May after carryingsupplies underground at Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s Hollister operations innorthwestern Elko County.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyJosh Viljoen of Winnemucca, left, and Orion Mohn of Pahrump pausein their operation of a double-boom jumbo drill at Great Basin GoldLtd.’s Hollister underground operations in northwestern Elko County.

Hollister ...




of significant and substantial violations,according to the U.S. Mine Safety andHealth Administration.

“That’s where we want to be. Therewas a lot of hard work on the part ofemployees, and we need to make sureeveryone goes home safe,” Crawford said.

MSHA had listed Hollister as a minewith the potential for a pattern of signif-icant and substantial violations.

Crawford said that while there were nofatalities or serious injuries, there weretwo worker falls that triggered extra

MSHA inspections, and Hollister sub-mitted a plan and took the steps toimprove safety.

The Hollister portal leading under-ground is in the East Pit left from earliermining in the area often referred to asIvanhoe, and all the surface facilities arein the pit.

Plans call for building offices outsidethe pit if the BLM approved the mine,however, and that BLM approval willallow Great Basin Gold to extend power

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyGreat Basin Gold Ltd.’s portal to the underground Hollister test-mining and exploration project isin the far center of the old East Pit, where surface facilities for the operation are situated. Thisview was photographed in early May.

Hollister ...




Jeff Tindall, tractordriver, and ChuckKeller, both of Win-nemucca, pull outof the Hollister un-derground mineportal in early May.The hollister oper-ations in northwest-ern Elko County arelocated in themined-out West Pitfrom earlier miningoperations.

Ross AndresonMining Quarterly

Hollister ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 3322

to the mine. Generators provide the electricitynow.

In addition to the portal, Hollister has oneAlimak raise as a secondary escape route and isworking on a second one.

Hollister is in the area of the historic TosawihiQuarry where the Western Shoshone minedchert for weapons, and Great Basin Gold hasstrict policies about ground disturbance, ac-cording to Crawford.

“There can be no new disturbance and no off-road travel,” he said.

Great Basin Gold subsidiary Rodeo CreekGold Inc. and the BLM’s Elko District reached a$1.5 million settlement late last year that cre-ates a special fund focused on the TosawihiQuarries.

Rodeo Creek Gold will contribute the moneyover a 10-year period for the fund designatedstrictly for the protection and preservation ofthe Tosawihi Quarry Archaeological District.

Great Basin Gold, which has its headquartersin South Africa, has started mining atBurnstone there, and 5,511 ounces of gold wererecovered in the first quarter as the operationcontinues to ramp up.



ELKO — Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp.hopes to be mining again at the SSX-Steer underground complex at JerrittCanyon 50 miles north of Elko around theend of June.

“We’re just waiting for equipment,”said Chief Operating Officer GrahamDickson.

Crews have been preparing SSX-Steerfor the resumption of mining that wasshut down in August 2008, and Yukon-Nevada’s expected new financing willboost the work at SSX-Steer and plans toupdate the mill.

Yukon-Nevada Gold Corp. Presidentand Chief Executive Officer RobertBaldock said the Vancouver-based com-pany is receiving $60 million fromDeutsche Bank Global Mining Financethat makes the bank a shareholder and a$120 million loan from the bank.

“All of the financing is only done afterthe companies do their due diligence atthe site. The difference with this financ-

ing is normally financing is debt, but thebank is putting money in themselves andwill be a shareholder,” he said.

“This shows they think this projectwill go,” Baldock said.

Yukon-Nevada has been building upJerritt Canyon since the resumption ofmilling of stockpiles and ore fromNewmont Mining Corp. and resumptionof underground mining at the SmithMine, which Small Mine Development isdoing under contract.

SMD currently has 40 employees atthe Smith Mine, according to CherylGmirkin, the company’s business man-ager.

The SMD employees are in addition tothe 198 Jerritt Canyon employees.

“We will be tooling up for a few moreonce we get fully under way at SSX-Steer,” Dickson said.

Meanwhile, Yukon-Nevada sub-sidiary Queenstake Resources USA inmid-May signed a $3.6 million settle-ment agreement with the 400 workerslaid off in August 2008 when the com-pany abruptly closed the mine due to

financial problems, lawyers for bothsides confirmed.

Queenstake signed in mid-May, andthe four ex-employees who filed theclass-action lawsuit in U.S. DistrictCourt in Reno against Queenstake —Kurt Knudsen, Donald Capp, LarryMoon, Steve Volkert and Paul Dyer —also signed the revised agreement thatmet U.S. Department of Labor require-ments.

The ex-employees will have 60 daysto sign claim notices once the courtapproves the settlement, and a third-party administrator then will act on theclaims.

The claims are for the half of lay-offpay not paid earlier and for medical billspending when the mine shut down, aswell as reimbursements on 401(k) con-tributions and health savings plan con-tributions.

Yukon-Nevada’s progress at JerrittCanyon also includes the purchase ofthree, new 100-ton Komatsu haul trucksthat will be used to more ore and stock-piles to the mill and for future work on

the planned new tailings pond.“That should be under way by this

summer,” Dickson said of the pond.Yukon-Nevada’s mill work is planned

for September, when the mill will beshutdown for overhaul, and this workwill include winterization so productionisn’t affected by wet ore.

Dickson said ore will be dried up frontbefore processing instead of later.

Newmont currently is transportingroughly 1,000 tons of ore a day to JerrittCanyon for processing under an extend-ed agreement, he also said.

The company recently announcedupdated resources for Jerritt Canyon,the first since 2007. The 1.47 millionounces of measured and indicated goldresources is up 578,000.

Baldock said the increase in measuredand indicated resources is after all thegold production since that time, andexploration continues.

“We expect to release an updatednumber in February of next year thatwill include this season’s drilling,” hesaid.

Yukon-Nevada may soon mine SSX-Steer



ELKO — Round Mountain Gold Corp.is advancing development toward min-ing the Gold Hill satellite in Nye County,according to General Manager RandyBurggraff.

“We have the road constructed all theway up to the site, including stream andanimal crossings,” he said.

The animal crossings are culverts thatgo under the road so animals can getfrom one side of the road to the otherbecause above ground is fencing.

“All the site is cleared and grubbed,and the water diversion facilities areconstructed to divert creeks around themine, and now in the next week or two,we’re going out for bids to build theprocess plant, leach pad and crushing forthe leach pad overliner,” Burggraff saidon May 20.

Gold Hill roughly five miles north ofthe Round Mountain Pit will be a surfacemine with all the gold ore going to theleach pad and processed on site,

although the gold pours will be at theRound Mountain refinery.

“The start of mining will be miningrock for the overliner,” Burggraff said,estimating that will start by August, “soin a sense we will be mining while build-ing the leach pad.”

He said Round Mountain Gold stillexpects to begin producing gold at GoldHill in the first quarter of next year.

Round Mountain Gold is the partner-ship of Kinross Gold Corp. and BarrickGold Corp., with Kinross the operator ofRound Mountain and Gold Hill.

RRoouunndd MMoouunnttaaiinnGold Hill is just a part of the expan-

sion project under way at RoundMountain. Kinross also is expanding theRound Mountain Pit, and the work therealready completed includes increasingthe height of leach pads by 50 feet andrelocating the crusher system to makeroom for the growing pit.

“The new crushing and conveyor sys-tem has been running about 10 daysnow. I’m just feeling good about it. Itwas a big project,” Burggraff said in a

telephone interview.“The next cut on the pit will take out

where the conveyor system used to be,Phase H,” he said.

Round Mountain plans to start goingdeeper in the pit in early June.

The work at Round Mountain alsoincluded expansion of waste dumps, andBurggraff said the new areas have been inuse at least a couple of months.

Round Mountain currently has 750employees, which is roughly the same,but the number of contractors on sitehas been as high as 210 the past six toeight months. Burggraff said Gold Hillwill involve 20 to 50 contractors all year,beyond the 210.

Kinross reported that Round Moun-tain produced 42,121 ounces of gold forits share in the first quarter of this year,down from 45,629 ounces in the 2010quarter.

Production costs were up at $792 perounce, compared with $578 per ounce inthe 2010 quarter.

“We will be very close to what was pro-duced last year by the end of this year,”

Burggraff said.Round Mountain produced 358,614

ounces of gold in 2010 for both Kinrossand Barrick combined.

WWoorrllddwwiiddee pprroodduuccttiioonnAlso in the United States, Kinross pro-

duced 65,047 ounces of gold in the firstquarter at its Fort Knox Mine in Alaska,down from 69,640 ounces last year, and45,852 ounces from the Kettle River-Buckhorn operation in Washington,down from 48,405 ounces last year.

Kupol in Russia produced 205,675ounces in the 2011 quarter, comparedwith 192,921 ounces last year, while thecompany’s new mines in Africa pro-duced a combined total of 113,358ounces.

Mines in Brazil produced 115,240ounces, down from 136,328 ounces, andmines in Chile produced 113,186 ounces,up from 99,441 ounces last year, accord-ing to the earnings report.

The company stated that productionfor all mines in the 2011 quarter totaled

Gold Hill moves closer to mining satellite pit

See RROOUUNNDD,, 37


642,857 gold equivalent ounces, up 18 percent over production in the firstquarter of last year.

Production costs were $543 per ounce in the quarter, compared with$456 per ounce in the 2010 quarter.

Companywide, Toronto-based Kinross reported net earnings of $255.5million, or 23 cents a share, in the first quarter, up from the 2010 quarteron higher gold prices and increased production.

The $255.5 million in earnings compares with $181.3 million, or 26cents per share, last year.

Adjusted net earnings totaled $180.3 million, or 16 cents per share, up81 percent from the $99.7 million, or 14 cents per share, from the 2010quarter, according to the earnings report.

Kinross also reported record revenue of $937 million in the quarter,compared with $657.6 million last year, on an average realized gold priceof $1,327 per ounce. The realized gold price in the 2010 quarter was$1,065 per ounce.

“Strong performance from our operations, new production from WestAfrica and a robust gold price contributed to a 42 percent increase in rev-enue and an 81 percent increase in adjusted new earnings for Kinross,”said Tye Burt, president and chief executive officer.

The production increase for the first quarter was mainly becauseKinross now owns 100 percent of the Kupol Mine and that led the com-pany to raise its forecast for this year from between 2.5 million and 2.6million ounces to between 2.6 million and 2.7 million ounces.

Kinross has 10 operating mines in North and South America, Russiaand Africa, including the Tasiast Mine in Mauritania and the ChiranoMine in Ghana acquired with the purchase of Red Back last September.


ELKO — Klondex Mines Ltd. has startedunderground development at its Fire CreekProject northwest of the town of CrescentValley and hopes to produce gold from testmining there late this year.

“Things are progressing quite well, andwe’re pretty darn excited,” said Blane Wilson,president and chief operating officer of theVancouver-based company.

He said drifting from the new portal thatstarted in late April had reached 140 feet as ofmid-May and Small Mine Development shouldbe advancing about 20 feet a day as the projectprogresses.

SMD has 14 employees on the project, ac-cording to Cheryl Gmirkin, SMD’s businessmanager.

“We’re firing up Fire creek,” she said fromher Idaho office.

Wilson said once the drifting has reachedmore than 3,000 feet, a secondary vent raisewould be started, probably in September andbe completed the first part of November.

“We expect the first bulk sampling couldcome out this December,” Wilson said.

No ore can be extracted until there is a sec-ondary escape route.

Klondex is permitted to mine up to 120,000mineralized tons of material in trial mining andto produce gold from the sampling to beprocessed off site.

Plans call for 3,650-foot decline to accessthe Main Zone for further delineation and bulksampling of ore and estimates 6,475 feet ofunderground development yet this year,according to the company.

N.A. Degerstrom had 15-20 people on site inmid-May doing site work, and there were a halfdozen archaeologists at Fire Creek as well,according to Wilson.

Exploration to follow up on veins intersectedlast year will continue as the work progresses.

“We hope to have the first drill turning bythe end of the month,” Wilson said in May, amonth after the company announced it hadsecured a $20 million gold-backed debt facilityto fund Fire Creek work.

Klondex also reported it plans to update itsresource estimate by the end of this year. Theresources at the end of March 2009 includedmore than 1.6 million ounces of gold equivalentin the indicated category and nearly 509,000ounces in the inferred category.

Klondex begins Fire Creek declineRound ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 3366



IMLAY — All the mining action is atthe Standard Mine for Jipangu Inter-national crews that had been mining atFlorida Canyon, the gold mine that sitsalong Interstate 80 west of Imlay inPershing County.

“The whole mining group is atStandard. We started mining in Marchand hit ore right at the bat,” said JoelMurphy, vice president of operations andgeneral manager of the Florida Canyonand Standard operations.

Standard is roughly five miles south ofthe Florida Canyon Mine, where miningis on hold but leaching continues andwhere the administration, laboratory andrefining facilities are still in use whileplans are under way for future mining.

Murphy said mining at Standard nowis in the North and Intermediate pits andbarely beginning in the South Pit, whichwill be the largest of the pits at Standard,

Jipangu steps up Standard mining

See JJIIPPAANNGGUU,, 39

The new crush-er system forJipangu Inter-national’sStandard Minenear Imlayoperates in themined-outCordex Pit.



Jipangu ...



Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA 150-ton Caterpillar haul truck picks up a load of ore in May coming off the crusher in the mined-out Cordex Pit at the JipanguInternational’s Standard Mine near Imlay.

encompassing the older Standard Pit.The mining is under way while development work

continues, and plans call for stripping to begin shortlyfor a new leach pad. The current pad is taking ore atStandard, where the gold ore is run through a crusherset up in the mined-out Cordex Pit and then processedthrough leaching.

All the ore at Standard is headed for the crusher,which was in operation but still not fully set up in May.

“North will be mined until the end of the year. TheIntermediate Pit will be done in about a month,”Murphy said in May.

Crews backfill the pits as they are mined out, andBrent Ford, the engineer manager for Florida Canyonand Standard, said Standard is “more like mining a hillthan a pit.”

SSeeccoonndd ttiimmeeJipangu International mined Standard in the past all

on private land but had to obtain U.S. Bureau of LandManagement approval to go back because the expan-sion goes onto public land.

The ore at Standard is a higher grade of gold thanFlorida Canyon, and the ore is just “there or not,”Murphy said, rather than as a widespread, low-gradedeposit like Florida Canyon. “The Standard grade is



CARLIN — Newmont Mining Corp.has much to do these days on the CarlinTrend as the company gears up for thenewest open-pit projects, Genesis andEmigrant.

Newmont also is absorbing the Fron-teer Gold properties the companyacquired that include Long Canyon, anadvanced exploration property in ElkoCounty that Newmont hopes to turn intoa mine.

“If that’s not expansion, I don’t knowwhat is,” said Jack Henris, mine managerof Newmont’s Carlin surface operations.

He said Newmont’s purchase of Fron-teer and its funding of new projectsshows that the company has decided tokeep investing in northern Nevada.

Newmont acquired Fronteer in Aprilfor $2.33 billion and with that deal cameLong Canyon, the NorthumberlandProject in Nye County and the SandmanProject in Humboldt County and smallerexploration projects.

SSeeee PPaaggee 88 ffoorr mmoorree oonn tthhee ffoorrmmeerrFFrroonntteeeerr pprrooppeerrttiieess..

Along with the Fronteer deal and plansfor Genesis and Emigrant, Newmont alsois simply breathing a sigh of relief thatGold Quarry is back in gold production.

“There was nothing from here for 15months, from December 2009 to March2011,” Henris said as he talked about GoldQuarry, where a giant pit-wall failurehalted ore production.

Crews had to mine the waste materialat the slide site before they could onceagain get to gold ore, “so essentially westarted a new layback,” he said. “It was apretty rough year and a half at GoldQuarry.”

Henris said when the pit wall failed,operators asked what would happen withtheir jobs, but he told them they wouldhave more work than before the slide.

“We had 40 million tons of alluvium

Adella Harding/Mining Quarterly

AABBOOVVEE:: Two cranes are busyduring the 35-day overhaul inMay at Newmont MiningCorp.’s Mill 6, also called theroaster. The shutdown andoverhaul involved 685 contrac-tors. The roaster is at New-mont’s South Operations Areanorth of Carlin.

LLEEFFTT:: Newmont Mining Corp.’sGold Quarry Pit north of Carlinis back in ore production nowthat a large pit-wall failure hasbeen remediated and a but-tress built. The lighter area inthe center background is wherethe slide occurred.

Gold Quarryback in action

See NNEEWWMMOONNTT,, 5

NEWMONTNEWMONT

two or three times higher.”Jipangu generally produces 60,000

ounces of gold a year, and production thisyear will come from both Standard andresidual leaching at Florida Canyon.Standard was in residual leaching fromthe time mining ended there last in 2007to current days.

“The pad at Florida Canyon will leachfor at least four years until we get backhere,” Murphy said at the Florida Canyon

administration building. “We plan to getback to Florida Canyon in about threeyears.”

That’s the estimated time for permit-ting for an expansion of the leach pad tohandle more ore, and Jipangu expected tohave a plan to submit to the BLM beforethe end of May. The BLM will decidewhether the expansion will require anenvironmental assessment or more in-


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyJoel Murphy, general manager of Jipangu International’s Florida Canyon and Standard minesnear Imlay, talks in May about future plans for the operations.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyBlast-hole drill rigs are busy in May at the North Pit at Jipangu International’s Standard Minenear Imlay. The mine is roughly five miles from Jipangu’s Florida Canyon Mine.

Jipangu ...



depth environmental impact statement.“We’re praying it will be an EA,” Ford

said. “It’s just a continuation of whatwe’ve been doing for 25 years.”

Murphy said Florida Canyon has morethan 1 million ounces of proven andprobable reserves to keep the mine busyonce it has BLM approval to return.

“This property is really good at$1,500-ounce gold, but at $500 gold, itwouldn’t be good for us,” Ford said ofFlorida Canyon, which has at least 10years of mine life.

The high gold price doesn’t mean bigprofits, however, because of the highcosts for tires, fuel, equipment and sup-plies, he and Murphy said.

Ford and Murphy said during a tourthey were concerned about any proposedtax increases that would affect the min-ing operation because the small opera-tion doesn’t have economy of scale.

“We’re a high-volume, low-grade pro-ducer,” Murphy said.

Jipangu employs roughly 160 people atthe Florida Canyon-Standard opera-tions, which are the company’s only

mines in the United States.Ford said the company just closed its

office in Denver but has one in Reno. Theprivate company’s headquarters are inTokyo.

Jipangu acquired Florida Canyon andStandard from Apollo Gold roughly sixyears ago.

Jipangu is running 10 150-ton haultrucks and four 100-ton trucks at

Standard, where an office and changebuilding was nearing completion in May,after the company bought the modularbuilding from a BLM district in Montana,according to Ford.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyJipangu International is back mining at the Standard Mine to the west of the Florida Canyon Mine near Imlay. This May overview shows the NorthPit where mining is under way and the mined-out Cordex Pit in the background at right.

Jipangu ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 4400



ELKO — Harold Heinen’s work pavedthe way for the modern-day processesthat treat ore on a large scale to pro-duce gold.

“Harold worked on carbon loadingand stripping techniques and madecarbon adsorption and carbon-in-pulpand carbon-in-leach processes viable,”said Gene McClelland of Reno-basedMcClelland Laboratories Inc., whodescribed Heinen as his mentor.

“After that he started developingleaching techniques from copper leach-ing and later figured out agglomerationtechnology and therefore improvedyour gold recovering,” McClelland said.

Heinen, 95, of Reno said in May that“mining has come a long way over theyears due to research and testing.”

McClelland said he worked forHeinen at the U.S. Bureau of Mines,and Heinen was brilliant.

“Decades ago the U.S. Army came tothe Bureau of Mines with all this car-bon, and that’s when he started work-ing with carbon,” he said.

“He did research on coconut shellcarbon and made these processes viabletoday,” McClelland said.

“I worked with Harold on all thesetechnologies, but it was his mind andvision that drove all these researchideas that ended up developed for themining industry,” he said.

Cyanide processing started back inthe late 1880s to replace the chlorineprocess miners used for gold and silver,but McClelland said it wasn’t until theearly 1960s after the mining industrydecided to go after microscopic goldthat carbon technology came into play.

McClelland said he and Heinendeveloped the agglomeration processafter the first large-scale heap leachpad went into production at the CortezMine in 1975.

“They had about a million tons on the

pad andtrouble get-ting leachsolutionthrough thepad,”McClellandsaid.

“Haroldand I fig-ured outhow tomake mud

balls, using binder with Portland type 2cement, usually 8 to 10 pounds per tonof ore,” he said, explaining that addingwater and tumbling the material causedthe mud balls to grow.

“They are like little sponge balls,very porous and kind of cool,” he said.

Heinen provided his own recollectionin May of developing the agglomerationprocess:

“About 60 years ago while workingas a metallurgist for the U.S. Bureau of

Mines at Reno, my neighbor, a cementcontractor, showed me a concrete floorhe had laid at a warehouse in Sparks.

“The concrete flooring containedplugs, or small pockets of porous mate-rial because of the small amount of clayin the gravel. That gave me the idea ofusing Portland cement to convert theclay-like constituents of gold ores intoporous granulated compounds so it willmake the ore heap leachable forextracting the gold,” Heinen said.

“Gene McClelland was my assistantin the laboratory, and we conductedcolumn leach tests on gold ores.Fortunately, as little as five cents worthof Portland cement per ton of orereacted with the clay constituent of agold ore to make it into a porous mate-rial, which then became amenable tocolumn percolation leaching,” herecalled.

“After completion of these pilot lab-

How it all started Harold Heinen’s work makesgold mining viable today

HHaarroolldd HHeeiinneenn

See HHEEIINNEENN,, 43


ELKO — The South Fork BandCouncil of the Te-Moak Tribe ofWestern Shoshone has signed a collab-orative agreement with Barrick Gold ofNorth America.

Members are now eligible for schol-arships from the Legacy Fund, accord-ing to Lou Schack, director of commu-nications and community affairs forBarrick Gold of North America.

“The Legacy Fund already has over$1 million in the bank and will havepaid out over a half million dollars inscholarships by the end of July,” hesaid.

The fund is for students in theWestern Shoshone and Paiute tribesthat signed the collaborative agree-ment to work with the company,according to Barrick. The tribes filinglawsuits against Barrick aren’t eligible.

Applications are due by July 8,according to Barrick.

South Fork Band Council ChairmanBrandon Reynolds signed the agree-ment in April.

South Fork Bandsigns agreement

oratory studies, I retired after 40 yearsof government service,” said Heinen,who has a master’s degree in chemistry.

“Gene uses this technique in hisbusiness. This technique is also pro-moted and used worldwide,” he said.

On the carbon-in-pulp method, theNevada State Journal stated on Oct. 8,1980, that Heinen and Raold Lindstromof the U.S. Bureau of Mines came upwith the landmark process that allowedthe Carlin Mine to process carbona-ceous ores.

The Carlin Mine was the early namefor Newmont Mining Corp.’s operationson the Carlin Trend.

“Mining experts also suggest that,but for the development of the Heinen-Lindstrom process, Freeport Mineralsmight never have decided to open itsnew major gold mine in Jerritt Canyonof Elko County,” states the editorial.

Even years after Heinen retired in1979 from the Bureau of Mines that wasclosed in 1995, he was a consultant forMcClelland Laboratories, which wentinto business in December 1986.

“While I have a heard a lot aboutHarold Heinen, I think I met him onceat Gene McClelland’s lab. He clearlymade a big difference in the industry,both as a good researcher and engineerbut also as a great person and mentor,”said Dirk van Zyl, a professor at theUniversity of British Columbia whoearlier was at the University of Nevada,Reno.

Kenneth Brunk, president and chief

operating officer of Midway GoldCorp., said he believes Heinen’s “con-tributions, particularly in the area ofgold processing, were instrumental inthe development of the gold industry inthe state of Nevada.”

He also said Heinen’s agglomerationtechnology “made all the heap leachesin Nevada viable today.”

Among Heinen’s honors, he receiveda Meritorious Service Award from theU.S . Department of Interior in 1978and was chosen as a distinguishedmember of the Society of MiningEngineers for 1984-85.

The citation from former InteriorSecretary Cecil Andrus noted thatHeinen started as a chemist with theArmy Quartermaster Corps in 1940 andjoined the Bureau of Mines as a metal-lurgist in 1942.

The citation also states that Heinen’sespecially noteworthy accomplish-ments “are the processes for the lowcost extraction of gold and silver frommarginal resources and recovery of goldand silver from the resulting solutionsby activated carbon technology.”

Heinen ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 4422

“Fortunately, as little asfive cents worth of

Portland cement per tonof ore reacted with the

clay constituent of agold ore to make it into a

porous material ...”

—— HHaarroolldd HHeeiinneenn



LOVELOCK — Coeur d’Alene MinesCorp.’s Rochester Mine in PershingCounty is on its way to new silver pro-duction, and the site is busy with new,returning and longtime employeespreparing for that new production.

“It’s a huge accomplishment to putpeople back to work from Lovelock andPershing County. What we’ve seen isonce we put the shingle out again, somany people who worked here beforewant to work here again,” said DanaSue Kimbal, the environmental man-ager for Rochester.

“It’s a good testament to the workenvironment before. It’s definitely anice place to work,” she said.

The site now has 167 employees, andMike Springfield, the human resourcesmanager for Rochester, said plans areto reach 220 to 225 employees.

Roughly 60 percent of the em-ployees are from Pershing County. Theremaining 40 percent come from Win-nemucca, Fernley and Fallon, andSpringfield said he’s had more than1,100 applications, 600 of them since ajob fair last October. Rochester isroughly 27 miles southwest of Love-lock.

Mining stopped at Rochester in2007, but Coeur is reviving miningafter receiving U.S. Bureau of LandManagement approval to expand.

“We’re loading and hauling withnew equipment and building a buttressfor the conveyor system,” Kimbal said.We already have the pit lake filled. Thatwas the first order of business.”

Crews filled the small pit lake withwaste rock that was inside the pit frompast backfilling, and the crews aremoving additional material to form thebuttress, which will take roughly 7 mil-lion tons of material.

“Some is now classified as ore andmoved to the crusher stockpile,” butmost material goes to the buttress,according to Lorin Noble, the produc-tion and maintenance superintendentfor Rochester.

The stockpile awaits start up of thethree-tier crusher system once the pri-mary, secondary and tertiary crushersthat were mothballed so any ore nowproduced at Rochester is still coming

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA new Caterpillar loader dumps a load of waste rock into a new 100-ton Caterpillar haul truck at Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp.’s Rochester Mine inPershing County. Work was under way in May to build a buttress in the pit.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyNew 100-ton Caterpillar haul trucks line up in May for waste rock to take to the portion of the Rochester Pit where a buttress is under construc-tion to support a conveyor system. The loader is busy in the background.

Rochester gearing for new production

See RROOCCHHEESSTTEERR,, 45


Rochester ...



from residual leaching.RRoocchheesstteerr pprroodduuccttiioonn

Rochester has continued producingsilver and gold from residual leachingsince the shutdown.

Rochester produced 333,696 ouncesof silver and 1,451 ounces of gold fromresidual leaching in the first quarter, andnew silver and gold production isexpected in the fourth quarter, accord-ing to Coeur.

“We’re moving along the schedulewith our expanded production plan andmine life at our long-time flagshipRochester silver and gold mine inNevada,” Coeur Chairman, Presidentand Chief Executive Officer DennisWheeler said in the first-quarter earn-ings report.

“It’s on schedule to start adding newounces of production in the fourth quar-ter for at least eight more years withplenty of exploration potential remain-ing,” he said.

High silver prices are an added incen-tive to begin mining silver at Rochesteragain. The price reached a London fixhigh of $48.70 this spring before slip-ping to roughly $38 an ounce, still muchhigher than the London fix average spotprice of $13.38 per ounce in 2007.

High gold prices help too. Coeurreported the average realized gold pricein the first quarter was $1,374 per ounceand the average silver price at $31.27 perounce.

Casey Tiel, technical superintendent,said Rochester expects to begin crushingmaterial in July and putting it on the newleach pad, called Stage 3. PeavineConstruction of Reno is constructingthe pad and had roughly 40 contractorson site in May.

“It’s none to soon to get this project upand running. There has been no new oresince 2007,” Kimbal said.

Rochester has been operating 24hours a day, seven days a week sinceApril, when there were enough peoplehired and enough pieces of equipmenton hand to do so.

NNeeww eeqquuiippmmeennttCoeur didn’t keep all of its equipment

when mining ended in 2007, so the com-pany purchased 16 new pieces of equip-ment for the restart of mining.

“Everything we’ve ordered is on site,”Noble said in May.

That equipment includes eight 100-

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyCasey Kiel, technical superintendent at the Coeur Rochester Mine in Pershing County, looks out over the Rochester Pit where silver mining willresume this summer. In the background is the buttress under construction to support a surveyor system.

Marvin Weath-erhead, left, thechief surveyor atthe RochesterMine in PershingCounty, andMichael Martinez,both of Lovelock,are surveyingprisms in May forslope monitoringof the open pit.



Rochester ...



Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA haul truck dumps a load of rock on the buttress under construction at Coeur d’Alene MinesCorp.’s Rochester Mine in Pershing County. The buttress will support a new conveyor system forthe resumption of silver mining.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyEd Brink of Fernley, who is with the Purcell Tire mining group, changes a tire in May on a 100-tonCaterpillar truck at the Coeur Rochester Mine. Rochester is leasing this older truck to supple-ment the mining fleet.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA crane lifts the main frame for the secondary crusher at Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp.’s Rochester Mine in Pershing County. Crews were refurbish-ing the crusher in May as the silver mine prepares to go back into full production.

ton Caterpillar haul trucks, two Cater-pillar loaders with 18-yard buckets, twoCaterpillar bulldozers, one rubber-tiredozer, a grader and two new blast-holedrill rigs should be arriving in August, hesaid.

Rochester also had a few pieces ofequipment still on site and is leasing fourhaul trucks.

Crews will install the conveyor fromwhat was already on hand before theshutdown to bring ore from the crushersystem to the new leach pad, accordingto Noble.

All new employees receive safetytraining, as well as training on equip-ment.

Rochester’s safety manager, RichWagner, said the mine will continue itslongtime safety standards, as well asupdate them.

“Since 1986, we’ve never had a fatali-ty. Our goal and our focus is to be thesafest mine in the world,” he said, addingthat Rochester runs a behavior-basedsafety program.

Noble said employees and job appli-cants consider safety a key reason tocome to Rochester.

“It’s on their minds,” he said.Wagner also said those like himself

who continued working at Rochesterafter mining ended always believedRochester would be revived again.

Kimbal said the new hires includeformer construction work-ers and workers from theEmpire gypsum mine thatrecently closed after 90years, along with formerRochester employees leav-ing other jobs to return.

As for exploration, Kim-bal said Rochester is lookingbetween the Rochester op-erations and the Packarddeposit that was mined in2002 as a satellite.

“We want to be sure wehave advanced planning andpermitting,” she said.

Rochester also has to complete aclosure plan for the BLM as part of therequirement for obtaining the agency’sapproval to expand, and Kimbal saidRochester will kick off the closureplanning at the end of this year.

Reclamation continues. The Stage I

leach pad was reclaimed 10 years ago,and the active Stage 4 and Stage 2 leachpads are contoured for future reclama-tion, although she said Stage 2 will bein use through 2012 and Stage 4

through 2014.All of the past waste

dumps have been reclaimedand reseeded, and the newmining won’t require anywaste dumps because allthe material without silverore will be used for pitbackfill, according to Kim-bal.

CCooeeuurr eeaarrnniinnggssCompanywide, Coeur

announced in May that itposted record revenue inthe first quarter as produc-tion rose and gold and sil-

ver prices increased.The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based

company reported net income of $12.5million, or 14 cents per share, com-pared with a loss of $12.9 million, or 16cents per share, in the first quarter oflast year.

Adjusted net earnings totaled $37.5million, or 42 cents per share, and netmetal sales totaled $199.6 million.

“With silver and gold prices expect-ed to remain strong despite recentvolatility, we are anticipating 2011 tobe the company’s best year ever by awide margin, with record cash flowsdriven by 20 million ounces of silverproduction and 250,000 ounces ofgold production,” Wheeler said.

The company produced 4.1 millionounces of silver and 53,130 ounces ofgold in the first quarter, comparedwith 3.4 million ounces of silver and25,782 ounces of gold in the 2010 quar-ter.

Coeur also has its first full year ofproduction from three new mines: theSan Bartolome in Bolivia, the Palm-arejo mine in Mexico and Kensingtonin Alaska.

Kensington produced 23,676 ouncesof gold in the first quarter, Palmarejoproduced 1.7 million ounces of silverand 27,759 ounces of gold and SanBartolome produced 1.7 million ouncesof silver, according to Coeur.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyLorin Noble, the production and maintenancesuperintendent for the Rochester Mine in PershingCounty, talks about the work under way to get themine ready for new production.

Rochester ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 4466

SSpprriinnggffiieelldd



ELKO — General Moly is awaiting two actions on the Mt. Hope molybde-num project in Eureka County — the release of the draft study on the projectand a ruling on water rights.

“We’re pretty excited about coming up with the next big milestone of thedraft publication,” said Pat Rogers, director of environmental and permittingfor General Moly.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Battle Mountain district manager,Doug Furtado, said in May the BLM was “sort of on the last leg of review” ofthe preliminary draft.

He said the draft environmental impact statement on Mt. Hope probablywill be released in the third quarter.

General Moly planned to update Eureka County residents on the draft EISat two town hall meetings on June 2 and introduce the new Mt. Hope gener-al manager, Mike Iannacchione, according to Zach Spencer, manager ofexternal relations.

Iannacchione came to Mt. Hope from the Marigold Mine in HumboldtCounty and earlier was at the Round Mountain Mine in Nye County.

Spencer said Iannacchione also may be in Elko for the Elko Mining Expo,and General Moly will be at booth 537 June 9 and 10 at the Elko ConventionCenter.

General Moly’s chief executive officer, Bruce Hansen, was slated to be at

General Moly keeps Eureka residents updated

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyBob Pennington, vice president of engineering and construction for General Moly, talks about the Mt. HopeProject during a town hall meeting in April at the Eureka Opera House. See GGEENNEERRAALL MMOOLLYY,, 49

the town hall meetings that follow the lat-est meetings held at the Eureka OperaHouse in April.

The Colorado-based company alsoplanned to provide an update on the waterpermit applications.

WWaatteerr rruulliinnggState Engineer Jason King’s ruling on

General Moly’s applications to changewater rights from agricultural so the com-pany can develop the Mt. Hope Projectprobably won’t come until sometime inJune or July at least.

“There is a lot of information to cover,”said Tim Wilson of the State Engineer’sOffice. “There is no set time table, just a240-day limit.”

The State Engineer’s Office took addi-tional testimony in a short hearing on May10 to cover more information that GeneralMoly submitted at the state engineer’srequest, Wilson said.

Rogers said he testified, and the hearingwas “really focused just on the water bal-ance, the uses of water and sources ofwater in Kobeh Valley and DiamondValley.”

The State Engineer’s Office is acting

again on the General Moly requestsbecause a district court ruling sent theoriginal action back to the state.

The plaintiffs, Eureka County andDiamond Valley growers, are worried waterdrawn from Kobeh Valley for the minemight impact nearby Diamond Valley.

“We remain extremely confident thatour water applications before the StateEngineer’s Office will be granted and sup-port the degree of care and diligence theState Engineer’s Office has taken to createa complete and carefully consideredrecord and believe the additional time forthis process is helpful to the receipt of thecompany’s water appropriations,” Hansensaid.

Rogers said the balance question comesbecause General Moly will use water fromDiamond Valley, although most of thewater needs will be met from its well fieldin Kobeh Valley.

The planned open pit straddles the bor-der of Diamond and Kobeh valleys, andwater seeping into the pit only to bepumped back out will be water fromDiamond Valley, he said.

Plans for the water pumped from the pitcall for it mainly to be used in dust sup-

pression at the mine, Rogers said.General Moly expects to use 11,300 acre

feet of water per year for Mt. Hope, andonly a few hundred acre feet will go into thepit, he said.

Rogers said General Moly continues towork with Eureka County to find commonground and address concerns in hopes thatthe county won’t appeal, if the state engi-neer rules in General Moly’s favor.

General Moly plans to develop a minewith a 44-year mine life that would employmore than 400 people and produce 40million pounds of molybdenum a year inthe first five years.

FFiinnaanncciinngg uuppddaatteeThe company also reported in May that

it continues to work with Hanlong (USA)Mining Investment as a long-term strate-gic finance partner for Mt. Hope.

General Moly reported representativesof the China Development Bank made adue diligence trip that included visits toMt. Hope and General Moly’s LibertyProject near Tonopah.

“Hanlong (USA) Mining InvestmentInc. continues to be a supportive, long-term strategic finance partner and is dedi-cated to the success of the Mt. Hope proj-

ect. We continue to work hand-in-handwith Hanlong on the Chinese bank financ-ing, which is progressing well,” Hansensaid.

Hanlong earlier agreed to procure a $665million loan for Mt. Hope.

General Moly also stated that Hanlonghas agreed to extend the deadline onfinancing that had required the BLM torelease the draft EIS on May 31 to Aug. 31.

General Moly presented its initial plan ofoperations to the BLM in September 2006,and Hansen said in April that the companyhad 22 out of 24 baseline studies completedby 2008 for Mt.Hope,but the “biggest hur-dle was the hydrology.” Those studies werecompleted in mid-2010.

While awaiting development of Mt.Hope, General Moly doesn’t have any rev-enue generation.

General Moly reported the net loss forthe first quarter of this year was roughly$4.2 million, or 5 cents per share, comparedwith a loss of $2.8 million, or 4 cents pershare, in the first quarter of last year.

The company also stated the cash bal-ance at the end of the quarter was roughly$64 million, compared with $54 million lastyear.


General Moly ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 4488

that had to be moved,” Henris said.“There were a lot of sleepless nights,”

said Dave Sirotek, general foreman ofmine operations in Newmont’s SouthOperates Area, including Gold Quarry.

Newmont deemed the remediation ofthe slide site as worthwhile because thegold reserve base “is very robust,” Henrissaid. “We started mining ore in late Feb-ruary or early March.”

Crews removed the alluvium, which isgood quality soil for reclamation, andalso had to construct a buttress to pre-vent any new slides after detecting thepotential for more movement, he said.

The remediation also cleared the wayto retrieve equipment that the slidestranded on a haul road. Two haul trucks,one loader and a drill rig were stuckthere, although they weren’t damaged,Henris said.

He said the long effort to bring GoldQuarry back into gold production“touched everybody, and I think it broughtthe site together.”

Even the mill employees were in-volved, because they had to begin pro-cessing stockpiles of ore that they hadput off processing due to low ore gradesand difficult metallurgy, Henris said.

GGoolldd QQuuaarrrryy nnoowwCurrently, Gold Quarry crews are min-

ing gold reserves that give Gold Quarry amine life into 2017, but Newmont alsocontinues to plan for pit expansion to thewest.

Although the pit mining stopped afterthe giant slide, the Chukar undergroundmine, which has its portals in a pit wall ofGold Quarry, continued operating whilethe slide remediation was ongoing.

Henris said that before the major pitfailure, Newmont put in a new ramp toaccess Chukar’s upper portal.

The slide that shut down productionwas the second slide in the pit within afew months in 2009. The first slide,called South Ramp, was smaller and hap-pened in October, and Henris said thatarea also was buttressed.

The remediation of the small slideinvolved 10 million to 15 million tons.

Newmont knew because of its moni-toring efforts that the second slide waslikely, but the quickness of the failure wasa surprise, Henris said. There was amplewarning, however, so that the mine wasevacuated and no one was hurt.

The monitoring involved instrumentsand people on the job keeping a dailylookout.

The buttress for the big slide took 2million tons of rock, said Henris in May,before he became general manager of theLeeville underground mine.

RRooaasstteerr oovveerrhhaauullGold Quarry ore may be processed on

leach pads, at Mill 5 or at Mill 6, alsocalled the roaster, depending upon thetype of ore, but the roaster was shutdown 35 days until late May for the annu-al overall that this year involved 685 con-tractors.

Tracy Carroll, the process mainte-nance foreman for Mill 6, said roughly 65people work at the roaster, and they werebusy on the overhaul, as well as the con-tractors from several states.

The roaster, which went into operationin 1994, processes refractory ore fromNewmont’s Nevada operations.

“It’s 24-7, 365 days, with the excep-tion of the shutdown,” Carroll said.

The mill processes ore from any of theNewmont operations in northeasternNevada when roasting is the best way torecover the most gold from the ore.

CCuurrrreenntt mmiinniinngg Newmont was mining at Gold Quarry

and Lantern 3 in May and headed back formore ore from the Carlin Main Pit, thefirst pit Newmont mined on the CarlinTrend.


Paul Pettit, NewmontMining Corp.’s seniorenvironmental manag-er, talks to visitors inearly April during aNational Summit ofMining Communitiestour. The Gold QuarryPit is in the back-ground.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyMike Simon of Leadville, Colo., holds a gold bar during an early April tour of NewmontMining Corp. facilities as part of the National Summit of Mining Communities.

Newmont ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 44

See NNEEWWMMOONNTT,, 6



ELKO — The Safety Olympiad 25thanniversary competition is scheduled forJuly 7-9, featuring surface mining rescueteams from Nevada and Wyoming.

Hosts for this year’s event are RoundMountain Gold Corp., the Elko Con-vention and Visitors Authority and theNevada Mining Association.

Kinross Gold Corp. operates RoundMountain and is the 50 percent owner,with Barrick Gold Corp. owning theother half of the mine in Nye County.

“Kinross and Round Mountain Goldare looking forward to hosting the 25thAnnual Safety Olympiad. We look for-ward to providing an exceptional compe-tition, as well as some excellent training,”said Olympiad co-chairman Ivan Brown,the mine rescue coordinator at RoundMountain.

Co-chairman with Brown is RobertDennison of ERS Solutions.

“We are extremely excited and honoredto be hosting this year’s Safety Olympiad.Ivan and his team have worked around

the clock to make it informational,thought-provoking and fun all at thesame time,” said Jeremy Jones, the healthand safety manager for Round Mountain.

According to Round Mountain, theSafety Olympiad will be a little differentthis year. Rather than a Fun Day on thatThursday, there will be a training day thatwill include confined space, trench res-cue, hazardous materials and extrication.

Plans call for a barbecue at the ElkoConvention Center on the evening of July7, the schedule shows.

Rescue teams also will compete twodays in first aid, cardiopulmonary resus-citation, patient assessment, fire fight-ing, ropes and knots, scene assessment,extrication, search and rescue, high anglerescue, confined space and hazardousmaterials.

The Friday competition will be at theUniversity of Nevada, Reno Fire ScienceAcademy just east of Carlin, according toJen Stotts, events coordinator for theECVA.

The Saturday competition will in-clude scenarios at the Elko ConventionCenter, and the event will end with an

awards banquet.Last year’s top honors went to the OCI

Chemical team from Green River, Wyo.,and Stotts said OCI is one of the teamsregistered for this year’s event. Therewere 11 teams signed up by May 20.

Stotts said the ECVA is promoting theSafety Olympiad this year on the U.S.Mine Safety and Health Administrationwebsite “in hopes of bringing in moreteams.”

There were 11 teams competing lastyear, and the limit is 16 teams.

“Every year that we attend this event,

we all are able to take something back tohelp with the preparedness of our teamand to continually support our site andcommunity. Being able to learn from theother teams and share information withthe other teams is what this event is allabout,” Brown said.

Registration for teams wishing to com-pete this year continues to June 24through the ECVA.

Brown may be reached at 775-377-3252. The ECVA may be reached in theElko area at 738-4091 or from long dis-tance at 800-248-3556.

Safety Olympiad July 7-9Members of the New-mont Mining Corp. TwinCreeks Mine surface res-cue team try to help “vic-tim” Kali Kropf of BattleMountain during a mockdisaster at the 2010Safety Olympiad.

Adella HardingElko Daily Free Press file



ELKO — Royal Gold Inc. announcednet income of $19.6 million, or 36 centsper share, on royalty revenue of $55.5million for the quarter ending March 31,an increase the company attributed tohigher production and higher averagemetal prices.

The 59 percent increase in revenuereceived a boost from new productionfrom Andacollo in Chile, Voisey’s Bay inLabrador and higher production atPenasquito in Mexico, as well as an aver-age gold price of $1,386 per ounce, com-pared with $1,109 per ounce in the 2010quarter.

“Our portfolio is starting to show itsstrength,” Royal Gold President andChief Executive Officer Tony Jensen saidin an earnings teleconference.

Jensen reported that two developmentproperties with Royal Gold royalties, Holtin Ontario and Wolverine in the Yukon,moved into production in the quarter,increasing the company’s portfolio to 35

revenue-generating properties.The increased revenue for the quarter

from production and metal prices waspartially offset, however, from lowerproduction from the Pipeline operationsat the Cortez Mine inNevada and a reducedroyalty rate at Taparkoin West Africa, accord-ing to Royal Gold.

Royal Gold’s royaltiesare on the Pipeline andCrossroads deposits atCortez in Lander Coun-ty, but owner BarrickGold Corp. is focusingon mining from the newer Cortez Hillssurface and underground operations.

The quarter’s profit compared with anet loss of $5.8 million, or 13 cents pershare, in the comparable 2010 thirdquarter in the company’s fiscal year onrevenue of $35 million, according toDenver-based Royal Gold.

The company noted, however, thatexcluding the after-tax effect of twonon-recurring items related to the com-

pany’s acquisition of InternationalRoyalty Corp. in the 2010 quarter, netincome would have been $8.9 million, or20 cents per share, last year.

The Andacollo property operated byTeck produced the mostrevenue for Royal Goldin the quarter endingMarch 31, $11.9 millionon 11,519 ounces ofgold. There was nocomparison to last year,since the company was-n’t yet receiving goldroyalties.

Voisey’s Bay operatedby Vale provided $10.1 million on 32.3million pounds of nickel and 19 millionpounds of copper. Voisey’s wasn’t yetproviding revenue for Royal Gold lastyear.

Penasquito in Mexico operated byGoldcorp Inc. provided $5.6 million inrevenue on 51,460 ounces of gold, 4.1million ounces of silver, 31.4 millionpounds of lead and 59.5 million poundsof zinc, compared with revenue of $1.8

million last year on 25,254 ounces ofgold, 1.7 million ounces of silver, 11.1 mil-lion pounds of lead and 14.4 millionpounds of zinc.

Newmont Mining Corp.’s Leevilleunderground mine on the Carlin Trend inNevada produced the fourth highest rev-enue for Royal Gold, $3.5 million on139,214 ounces of gold, compared with$2.4 million on 117,722 ounces of gold lastyear.

Cortez provided $3.1 million in rev-enue on 33,950 ounces of gold, comparedwith $7.2 million on 99,144 ounces ofgold in the 2010 quarter, Royal Goldreported.

The Robinson Mine operated byQuadra FNX Mining near Ely provided$2.8 million in revenue on 9,832 ouncesof gold and 18.2 million pounds of copperin the 2011 quarter, compared with $3.4million in revenue to Royal Gold last yearon 23,987 ounces of gold in the 2010quarter and 28 million pounds of copper.

The operation with the seventh high-

Royal Gold’s income totals $19.6 million

Top five royaltiesAndacollo — $11.9 millionVoisey’s Bay — $10.1 millionPenasquito — $5.6 millionLeeville — $3.5 millionCortez — $3.1 million

See RROOYYAALL GGOOLLDD,, 53

est revenue was Mulatos in Mexico,operated by Alamos, which provided $2.6million on 36,200 ounces of gold, com-pared with $2.3 million on 41,600 ouncesof gold last year.

The Holt gold mine operated by StAndrew Goldfields provided $1.6 millionin revenue on 6,412 ounces of gold, withno comparison to last year, and the LasCruces Mine in Spain, operated by Inmet,provided $1.4 million to Royal Gold on21.3 million pounds of copper. Las Crucesalso had no comparison with last year.

The Dolores Mine operated by Mine-finders in Mexico provided $1.4 million inrevenue on 16,991 ounces of gold and883,760 ounces of silver, compared with$1.1 million on 19,684 ounces of gold and260,668 ounces of silver last year, accord-ing to the Royal Gold earnings report.

Taparko provided $1 million in revenuefor the 2011 quarter from 37,060 ouncesof gold, while the mine operated by HighRiver provided $8 million in revenue on28,795 ounces of gold last year.

Gwalia Deeps in Western Australiaoperated by St Barbara Ltd. provided

$700,000 in revenue on 32,215 ounces ofgold, and Wolverine operated by YukonZinc provided $100,000 in revenue on33,214 ounces of gold and silver. Neitheroperation was providing revenue in the2010 quarter.

“In the coming quarters, we expectfurther production gains at Peñasquito,Holt and Wolverine as they work towardsfull design capacity, as well as the com-mencement of production from Cana-dian Malartic scheduled for later thismonth,” Jensen said.

Royal Gold also reported that at theend of 2010, precious metals reservessubject to the company’s royalty inter-ests totaled approximately 83.9 millionounces of gold and 1.4 billion ounces ofsilver.

Royal Gold stated that net of deple-tion, this reflects a gain of 5.4 millionounces of gold and 53 million ounces ofsilver over last year, representing a 7 per-cent increase in gold reserves and a 4percent increase in silver reserves.

“This reserve growth is due to a com-bination of the success our royalty oper-ators had in converting resources into

reserves and our ability to add new prop-erties to our royalty portfolio during theyear, driven largely by the Mt. Milliganacquisition,” Jensen said in the an-nouncement.

He said reserve additions from Mt.Milligan are significant because the com-pany is entitled to 25 percent of the goldreserves there. Mt. Milligan, operated byThompson Creek, is in development inBritish Columbia.

Royal Gold also provided an update ona number of its key royalty holdings:

AAnnddaaccoolllloo — Teck announced it willundertake a new expansion study toexamine the feasibility of increasingannual production from 80,000 metrictons to approximately 100,000 to120,000 metric tons of copper in con-centrate. The study is expected to becomplete by the end of the fourth quarterof this year.

VVooiisseeyy’’ss BBaayy — Production was strongfor the quarter and appears to be at asteady-state following the resolution ofthe strike in February 2011.

PPeeññaassqquuiittoo — The mine averaged94,400 metric tons per day during

March and reached full processingcapacity of 130,000 metric tons per dayat the end of the quarter. Goldcorp iscontinuing to focus on sustainingthroughput at the 130,000 metric tonsper day level.

RRoobbiinnssoonn — Quadra reported that pro-duction at Robinson continued to be lim-ited due to the lack of flexibility in theRuth Pit. A secondary access ramp isbeing constructed and mud is beingremoved from the bottom of the pit toimprove flexibility.

Quadra expects higher production inthe second half of the calendar year.

MMuullaattooss — Alamos reported lowerthan expected production due to lowerthan budgeted crusher throughput, butthe company announced that a mill willbe constructed on site to supplement theheap leach production and is expected tobe operational in the fourth quarter ofcalendar 2011.

DDoolloorreess — Minefinders reportedrecord quarterly production, in line withits 2011 annual production forecast of65,000 to 70,000 ounces of gold and 3.3million to 3.5 million ounces of silver.


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ELKO — If Allied Nevada Gold Corp.’splans win approval, the company’sHycroft Mine in Humboldt County willbecome a major gold mine with morethan 500 employees.

The Reno-based company hopes toexpand Hycroft to produce both oxideand sulfide ores and construct a mill onsite to process the sulfide ores.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Managementhas started the study process.

“We still believe we will get permits in2013,” Allied Nevada President and ChiefExecutive Officer Scott Caldwell said inan earnings teleconference in early May.

The BLM’s Winnemucca office isdoing the environmental impact state-ment and held scoping meetings in mid-May to gather comments for the study.

The BLM stated that the plans forHycroft 55 miles west of Winnemuccawould extend the mine life 12 years andboost the workforce from 225 people to537.

“There is a whole list of things they

are doing with this expansion,” KathleenRehberg, project leader for the BLM, saidin early May.

Caldwell said in the earnings telecon-ference the biggest permitting issue iswater, because the expansion willrequire dewatering to reach the deeperore.

“We’re not sure of the volume, but itwill be 5,000 to 10,000 gallons perminute, and the processing plant willuse it all,” he said.

Hycroft continues to grow under cur-rent permitting, as well, and TraceyThom, manager of investor relations forAllied Nevada, said in early MayHycroft’s workforce is expected to reach300 by the end of this year.

Allied Nevada expects to producebetween 115,000 and 125,000 ounces ofgold this year at Hycroft.

EExxpplloorraattiioonnAllied Nevada also continues a heavy

exploration effort at Hycroft and at itsHasbrouck Project five miles south ofTonopah.

Caldwell said Allied Nevada has 11drills operating, four at Hasbrouck and

the remainder at Hycroft, but the assayturnaround is an issue.

Exploration costs were a key reasonthe company’s net income for the firstquarter was $181,000, or zero cents pershare, compared with $3.7 million, or 5cents per share, in the first quarter of2010, according to Caldwell.

Allied Nevada spent $11 million onexploration in the first quarter and willspend as much this quarter because ofthe success so far, including the expand-ing mineralization at Hycroft and theresults at Hasbrouck.

“We believe we have a district playhere,” Caldwell said of the Hasbrouckdiscoveries.

Allied Nevada’s revenue was up in thefirst quarter, however, at $31.9 million,

compared with $23.5 million last yearbecause of more ounces sold and thehigher averaged realized gold price in the2011 quarter of $1,402 per ounce, com-pared with $1,108 per ounce in 2010.

Allied Nevada sold 21,341 ounces ofgold from Hycroft at an average cost ofsales of $491 per ounce in the first quar-ter, and silver sales of 59,556 ouncesexceeded expectations, compared withthe sale of 20,439 ounces of gold in thefirst quarter of 2010 and 53,491 ouncesof silver.

The average realized silver price was$34 per ounce in the 2011 quarter, upfrom $17 per ounce last year.

The company reported the gold to sil-ver ratio increased to 3 to 1 in the firstquarter as Hycroft processes more silver,and Caldwell said the ratio will continueto change when the Merrill-Crowe plantat Hycroft is expanded in July.

Allied Nevada records silver sales as abyproduct to its gold sales.

“In the first quarter, we achieved greatstrides in advancing our long-term ini-

Allied Nevada Gold Corp. on road to expansion

See AALLLLIIEEDD,, 57



ELKO — Quadra FNX Mining Ltd.,which operates the Robinson Mine inNevada, will be taking another growthstep with a joint venture deal with Sumi-tomo for development of the Sierra GordaProject in Chile.

The company earlier grew whenQuadra and FNX merged, adding opera-tions in the Sudbury District of Canada tothe Quadra package that initially beganwith Robinson, the historic copper minein White Pine County.

Quadra FNX announced in mid-Maythat the company has entered into adefinitive agreement to form a joint ven-ture with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. to develop theSierra Gorda copper and molybdenumproject.

“The JV with Sumitomo and the devel-opment of Sierra Gorda will provideQuadra FNX with a large, long-life, low-

cost copper project, which will allow us tomove past our strategic objective of 500million pounds of annual copper produc-tion,” Quadra FNX President and ChiefExecutive Officer Paul Blythe said in theannouncement.

“We are proud to be able to announce apartnership with a world class organizationlike Sumitomo, which will bring a wealth ofexperience, knowledge and financialstrength to the development and operationof the Sierra Gorda project,” he said.

EEaarrnniinnggss rreeppoorrttEarlier in May, Quadra FNX announced

net earnings jumped in the first quarter to$168 million, or 88 cents per share,because of benefits from the sale of GoldWheaton shares and higher copperprices, as well as the addition of theSudbury operations.

The $168 million in earnings comparedwith $55 million, or 55 cents per share,posted for the first quarter of last year.

The boost in net earnings was mainlydue to the $134 million pretax gain on the

sale of Gold Wheaton shares for $295 mil-lion, according to the earnings an-nouncement.

Adjusted net earnings were a littlelower in the 2011 quarter, however, at$51.8 million, or 27 cents per share, com-pared with $55.3 million, or 56 cents pershare, last year.

“This was a transitional quarter,”Blythe said in the earnings teleconfer-ence.

The transitions included work at theRobinson Mine near Ely to bring produc-tion back up and a conversion from con-tractor mining to company mining at theFranke Mine in Chile.

Overall, Quadra FNX’s payable produc-tion in the first quarter included 46 mil-lion pounds of copper, 25,000 ounces ofprecious metals and 2 million pounds ofnickel. Average cash costs were $2.19 perpound of copper.

Revenues increased 36 percent to $269million from $198 million in the 2010quarter.

RRoobbiinnssoonn MMiinneeAt Robinson, first-quarter produc-

tion continued to be impacted by lowerore grades as the mine continued withefforts to improve flexibility and accessto higher grades, according to Quadra.

Robinson produced 19.9 millionpounds of copper in the first quarter,compared with 30.7 million pounds inthe 2010 quarter, and 5,500 ounces ofgold, compared with 26,000 ounces ofgold last year.

“Gold recovery is less in the Ruth Pitthan the Veteran Pit. The expectation iswe will see lower gold going forward atRobinson,” Blythe said in the teleconfer-ence.

Robinson was mining in Veteran butmoved to Ruth.

The work at the mine includes contin-uation of mud removal from the bottomof the Ruth Pit and construction of anew, secondary access ramp.

Quadra FNX plans more growth

See QQUUAADDRRAA,, 57

The mud work cost Quadra FNXroughly $16 million in the first quarterand will cost about the same in the cur-rent quarter, when it is supposed to becompleted, according to the company.

Quadra expects that as a result of themud and ramp work, Robinson’s produc-tion will be up in the second half of theyear, and the mine is on track to producebetween 105 million and 120 millionpounds of copper this year.

“The key word for Robinson is flexibil-ity,” Blythe said.

Beyond the work at the Ruth Pit, explo-ration is under way at the Liberty Pit todetermine whether Quadra FNX can eco-nomically mine there.

“We’re aggressively exploring inLiberty as we speak,” Blythe said.

SSiieerrrraa GGoorrddaaRegarding the Sierra Gorda Project,

Quadra FNX will hold a 55 percent inter-est in the joint venture, and Sumitomowill be the 45 percent partner and initial-ly contribute $724 million of joint-ven-ture equity and arrange a minimum of $1billion project financing.

Quadra FNX also reported the boardhas approved development of SierraGorda based on results of a new feasibili-ty study, and the company will provide itsproportional share of remaining fundingof roughly $650 million through cash anddebt financing.

The feasibility study found that copperproduction from current reserves atSierra Gorda could average 483 millionpounds a year over a 20-year mine life.Sierra Gorda also would produce 25 mil-lion pounds of molybdenum and 64,000ounces of gold per year, according to thestudy.

Quadra FNX reported initial capitalcosts to develop the project would beroughly $2.88 billion, and the projectconstruction workforce will peak at6,000 workers. During production, themine would employ 2,000 workers.

“We now have the team and a financingstructure in place which will allow us tobring the project into production,” Blythesaid in the Sierra Gorda announcement,also commenting the deal will give thecompany the flexibility to develop QuadraFNX’s second major project.

tiatives. The significant resource updateand robust mill scoping studyannounced in the first quarter are evi-dence of this progress,” Caldwell statedin the earnings report.

HHyyccrroofftt rreessoouurrcceessThe company updated its resource

estimate for Hycroft in the quarter,reporting measures and indicated re-sources and reserves increased 101 per-cent to 16.1 million ounces of gold andincreased 131 percent to 598.1 millionounces of silver.

Those increases were just since thelast estimate issued in August 2010.

Allied Nevada also completed anupdated scoping study that included amill and sulfide ore production that pre-dicts annual gold production of 556,200ounces and annual silver production of27 million ounces at a cost of $304 pergold ounce sold.

This study also estimated the capitalcosts for the mill project at $894 million.

In its earnings report in early May,Allied Nevada reported that the compa-ny drilled 73 holes totaling 78,000 feet

at Hycroft in the first quarter, focusingon infill drilling to convert resources insupport of the initial milling feasibilitystudy.

The company is completing the studyon proposed construction of a mill tohandle the sulfide ores that so farhaven’t been mined. Hycroft nowprocesses only oxide ores that are placedon leach pads.

Step-out drilling in the first quarterindicated expansion of mineralization inthe Central, Albert and Vortex zones,with intervals of mineralization hostinggrades at or above the average resourcegrade, according to the earnings report.

Exploration at Hasbrouck in the firstquarter included discovery of a high-grade zone of mineralization, the SaddleZone, highlighted by 585 feet grading0.13 ounces per ton of gold and 2.43 optof silver, Allied Nevada reported.

Based on this discovery, Allied Nevadadrilled follow-up holes confirming thehigh-grade nature of the Saddle Zoneand more drilling is planned to under-stand the zone, according to the compa-ny.


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BByy JJUULLIIEE WWOOOOTTTTOONNMining Quarterly

ELKO — Cashman Equipment Co. is celebrating its80th anniversary this summer and is planning a largeexhibit June 9-10 at the Elko Mining Expo.

“For our 80th anniversary, we will focus primarily onour employees,” said Kate Gallagher, marketing com-municator at Cashman Equipment’s headquarters. “Wereally feel that they are the ones that have made ourcompany what it is.”

Cashman Equipment is holding events throughoutthe state on its Aug. 5 anniversary.

“Some elements are surprises,” Gallagher said.Cashman Equipment is headquartered in Henderson

and has more than 700 employees at several locations,including Elko, North Las Vegas, Reno/Sparks, RoundMountain, Winnemucca and Salt Lake City.

It’s one of the highest rated Caterpillar constructionequipment dealers in North America, according to thecompany’s website.

As part of the company’s anniversary, CashmanEquipment will have a large exhibit at the Elko MiningExpo.

Gallagher said that for the past four years, Cashman’spresence at the Expo wasn’t as large as it could havebeen.

“We are planning to increase our presence at the showthis year,” said Chris Wolford, sales manager for Elkobranch.

He said the company’s presence at the show will bemore representative of its position in the marketplace.

Cashman Equipment will exhibit up to 10 majorpieces of equipment and will also have a fluid analysisbooth.

Cashman Equipment to celebrate 80th anniversary

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyCashman Equipment mechanic Desmond Ward is performing preventative maintenance in May on a new Caterpillar loader withan 18-yard bucket at Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp.’s Rochester silver mine in Pershing County.

See CCAASSHHMMAANN,, 60

“We’ve mined that off and on over theyears,” Henris said. “The last layback atCarlin was back in 2005.”

The first gold pour from the CarlinMain Pit was poured in 1965.

Newmont goes back to pits on theCarlin Trend when the ore is needed tofeed the mills, rather than simply minethem out all at one time, Henris said.

“Mills are customers for our product,”he said.

The next big surface effort will be atGenesis.

“We’ll be back in Genesis mid-year,”Henris predicted.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Managementwas expecting to issue the record of deci-sion approving the Genesis Project anyday.

Plans call for expanding the existingGenesis Pit, backfilling the Bluestar andBeast pits and partially backfillingGenesis as mining progresses during theroughly 12-year project.

Newmont also will develop a new,small Bluestar Ridge open pit.

According to Newmont, the projectwill sustain 1,165 jobs for a dozen years,and workers will be mining 60 milliontons of gold ore and 455 million tons ofwaste rock over those years.

EEmmiiggrraanntt PPrroojjeeccttEarly preparations already were under

way in May for Emigrant, which will bean open-pit operation 10 miles south ofInterstate 80 near Newmont’s closedRain Mine.

“We will start mining probably in thespring of next year,” Henris said. “We willget into ore very, very quickly.”

Plans for Emigrant call for eight smallopen pits that will be backfilled as theyare mined out and construction of a leachpad, carbon processing plant and offices.

Henris said Newmont also will up-grade the truck shop at Rain and use thatfor Emigrant.

“We only plan seven trucks for Emi-grant, and all the ore is leach-gradematerial so it will all be handled on site,”he said.

Henris said Newmont’s surface opera-tions at Carlin work from a fleet of 43240-ton Caterpillar haul trucks that aremoved from site to site as needed.

The BLM approved Emigrant on Jan.25, and the BLM documents state thatmining operations would last roughly 10years and employ 180 people. The major-ity of the workers may be moved fromcurrent operations, however.

“It’s not big, but it’s a good one for us,”Henris said.

The current work on site includesclearing bush and building fences, hesaid.

GGoolldd pprroodduuccttiioonnNewmont reported its operations in

Nevada, both surface and underground,produced 433,000 ounces of gold in thefirst quarter at costs applicable to sales of$643 per ounce.

The production was the same total aslast year, but costs were 7 percent higherin the 2011 quarter due to higher wastemining, milling and diesel costs andlower leach production, partially offsetby higher by-product credits, accordingto Newmont.

Denver-based Newmont stated it con-tinues to expect 2011 gold productionfrom Nevada of roughly 1.8 million to 1.9million ounces at costs applicable to salesof between $565 and $615 per ounce.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyVisitors from the National Summit of Mining Communities in Elko watch as Newmont Mining Corp. mill 5 control room operator Ridge Willard, cen-ter, explains his job. From left are Ben Lesser, Juliet Fox, David Beurle and Danielle Switalski.

A magnet picks upsteel balls to put intoa bucket for the ballmills at a NewmontMining Corp. millnorth of Carlin.


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During the Expo, Cashman employeesrepresenting the parts, technology, sales,service and human resources depart-ments will be in attendance.

“We will be featuring almost all theaspects of the Cashman enterprise,”Wolford said.

Human resources representatives willalso be looking to recruit new employees,he said.

Visitors to the Expo will also have theopportunity to purchase the latestCaterpillar gear, such as hats and col-lectible models.

“There will be a broad range of infor-mation and we’ll feature the many thingswe do here at Cashman,” Wolford said.

Cashman Equipment, which is a fami-ly-owned company, was founded in 1931by James “Big Jim” Cashman in LasVegas.

Gallagher said Cashman came tosouthern Nevada in the 1920s and was anentrepreneur involved in a number ofbusiness enterprises from ferries to cardealerships.

Cashman was also involved with theHoover Dam project. Gallagher said

Cashman went to Caterpillar, a relativelynew company at the time, to buy tractorsfor the project.

“It was one of the largest order of trac-tors Caterpillar ever had,” Gallagher said.

With each successive member of theCashman family heading the company,Cashman Equipment has continued toexpand.

The Elko location opened its doors in1981 and doubled in size in 1988.

In 2008, the company opened a newparts facility on Ruby Vista Drive in Elko,connected to CAT Logistics and New-mont Mining Corp.

Looking to the future, Wolford said thelocal branch is making decisions abouthow to cope with the growth that isoccurring and is expected over the nextfew years.

“We’re making an ongoing push tocontinue to look for ways to better serveour customers with the expansion of ouroperations in northern Nevada,” he said.

Wolford said the local branch has along history of working closely with themining community and is excited aboutnew products being added to Cater-pillar’s mining equipment lineup.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity forCashman to continue to grow its busi-ness,” he said.

The local Cashman Equipment branchis at 5010 Idaho St. For more informa-tion, call 738-9871 or 1-800-937-2326.


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Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyA new 100-ton Caterpillar haul truck from Cashman Equipment gets a load of material in May atthe Rochester Mine in Pershing County.


BByy DDAANNIIEELLLLEE SSWWIITTAALLSSKKIIMining Quarterly

CARLIN — When it comes to fuel,Newmont Mining Corp.’s Leeville Minenorth of Carlin is keeping it local.

In the middle of May, Newmont begantests of a biodiesel fuel that is a 50-50mix using oil from camelina and canolaseeds to see how it faired in some of themine’s underground vehicles.

The biodiesel fuel was produced solelyin Nevada.

“We had to jump through hoops toimport products, but now it’s a localblender and locally grown products,”said Charlie Westover, fluid manage-ment supervisor at Newmont.

The fuel testing is one of the final stepsof Newmont’s pilot project that beganmore than a year ago when the company’sTS Ranch planted camelina and canolacrops in irrigated fields near Dunphy.

There were 250 acres of camelina seedsand 125 acres of canola seeds planted,which ultimately produced a total of6,000 gallons of biodiesel for testing.

Once the seeds were harvested, theywere sent to Nevada Soy Products inLovelock, where the seeds were crushed.After the oil was extracted, it was sent toBently Biofuel Co., where it was turnedinto biodiesel fuel.

Now, the process is complete, and thebiodiesel was blended with diesel fuel atCarlin to go through an isolated zonestudy in the underground mining equip-ment at Leeville.

“There is a lot of interest right now inNevada energy,” said Carlo Luri fromBently. “I think what Newmont is doingis cutting edge; most people run a 20/80blend with biodiesel and petroleum andNewmont doing a 50/50 blend is verycutting edge.”

Luri said by using biodiesel, particu-late levels decrease by 60 percent.

In coordination with the National

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyAABBOOVVEE:: Troy Terrillion tests emis-sions in an underground loader thatis using biodiesel fuel at NewmontMining Corp.’s Leeville Mine north ofCarlin.

LLEEFFTT:: Dwayne Schoemer, a mechan-ic in Newmont Mining Corp.’s Leevilleunderground mine north of Carlin,checks the tightness of fittings on abolter’s hydraulic lines.

Burning biodieselNewmont studiesuse of local fuelsource at Leeville

See LLEEEEVVIILLLLEE,, 64


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See LLEEEEVVIILLLLEE,, 65Ross Andreson/Mining Quarterly

A tour group watches in May as Toni Scott operates a rock crusher at Newmont Mining Corp.’s underground Leeville Mine north of Carlin.

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,Newmont personnel tested the B50 blend in theisolated area in the mine.

Westover said they are testing diesel particulateto determine the amount of matter going into theair.

TTeessttiinngg ffuueellssThe company was testing five different fuels in

mid-May to collect data on engine emissions andhow the engine is operating on each individualfuel. The fuel from the camelina and canola oil wastested against four other fuels: another B50 blend,B20, B70 and ultra low sulfur diesel.

These fuels are then compared.They also tested exhaust after-treatment tech-

nology for particulate reduction.Westover said once the tests are complete, they

will compile a business case analysis, which hehoped is completed in June.

“This was an experiment to grow those crops onthat land with water at that time of year, and we aredoing an isolated zone study and within one monthwe should have enough to go forward,” Westoversaid. “A lot of this stuff can help feed our decisionsof the future.”



See LLEEEEVVIILLEE,, 66

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyScott Ricks talks about using underground explosives, including this blasting cap, to Mary Jo Rablin, center, and Bob Rewinkle inthe Leeville Mine’s “Temple of Boom” during a May tour of the Newmont Mining Corp. operation.

More than 5,300 gallons of the biodiesel fuel wasburned in three to four days underground at Leeville.Part of the study is to put the product in all makes andmodels of equipment, Westover said, in order to deter-mine if Newmont should plant another crop and how toprocess it.

“For a project like this, it will come down to efficien-cies and economics, and we have come to this pointbecause of increasing restrictions to protect personneland this is one way to get there,” Westover said.

The creation of the biodiesel fuel is to not only meetemission standards, but to exceed them, he said.

“If we’ve done that, we’ve protected personnel,”Westover said.

The study will also look at the cost to produce the oilwithout adding new technology and new equipment inorder to meet the emission standards.

PPiilloott pprroojjeeccttNIOSH has partnered with Newmont for the pilot

project and provided equipment and engineers to con-duct the study on the biodiesel made from seed oil.Once the report is finished, both have to approve thefindings before it can be released into the publicdomain, Westover said.

“This is important for the pilot project to see what

kind of quality fuel we can make on ourown,” said Steve Spitze, manager for cli-mate change programs for Newmont.

“The great thing is what we learn is notjust applicable to Leeville, but can beintroduced everywhere. We will share theinformation we learned here everywhereelse in the world because when we canhang our hats on something we share itwith other organizations,” he said.

The fuel was not the only thing testedin May as Newmont used new equipmentin its underground operation.

New instruments, developed by NIOSH,were used to test the emissions. Thesedevices are currently being moved ontothe marketplace.

“It provides an immediate result foraccountability,” Westover said.

TTeessttss iinn eennggiinneessThe biodiesel was tested in two dif-

ferent engines: Tier three and tier fourengines. According to Westover, no com-pany in the world has tried to take a tier-four engine underground. A tier-fourengine is a light, diesel engine used onthe highway. The engine used in Leeville

was from a Mercedes Benz.“Leeville is the first place to be imple-

menting tier four technology under-ground,” said Troy Terrillion, diesel par-ticulate matter specialist.

Tier-four engines have characteristicscompletely different from tier-threeengines, Westover said.

He said the tier-four technology is thesame technology mandated by federallaw for highway use as of 2010 and all ofthe 2011 model engines have to meet thatemission standard.

Westover said it requires a fuel that isan ultra low sulfur diesel and dieselexhaust fluid, which is an ammoniaproduct that modifies the exhaust emis-sion to meet the standards.

“We’re trying that and this is the firstin the world that anyone has put in a tier-four engine and added this level ofsophistication of testing,” Westover said.

Using camelina and canola seeds hasother benefits than producing a biodiesel.

First, none of the seed is wasted, Spitzesaid. Once the oil is squeezed from the


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyMechanics Troy Hunter, right, and Ryan Sullivan of Sandvik work on a bolter at Newmont MiningCorp.’s underground shop at the Leeville Mine north of Carlin.


See LLEEEEVVIILLLLEE,, 67


seeds, the seed is sent back to the TSRanch to be put into a blend for cattle feed.

Bob Rewinkle from Nevada Soy Pro-ducts said around 20 percent of seedswent to oil and more than 70 percent ofthe seeds went for livestock for feed.

Camelina is rich in omega 3.He said camelina has a short growth

time and also requires less water thenconventional crops and, for a farmer, it isknown as a rotational crop.

“It’s very good for Nevada,” Rewinklesaid.


Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyTroy Terrillion talks in May about testing emissions of underground equipment that use biodieselfuel at Newmont Mining Corp.’s underground Leeville Mine.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyToni Scott operates a rock crusher at Newmont Mining Corp.’s underground Leevillegold mine on the Carlin Trend.


BByy JJAARREEDD DDuuBBAACCHHMining Quarterly

ELKO — SAS Global Mining is put-ting the finishing touches on its newoperations building near Elko.

According to Elko Operations Mana-ger Michael Reynolds, the new buildingis 30,000 square feet, and constructionstarted about six months ago.

SAS Global Mining has been in Elkofor the past five years with its corpo-rate headquarters in Warren, Mich.

Reynolds said the local SAS GlobalMining shop will have an open houseduring the Elko Mining Expo, 11 a.m.-4p.m. on June 9. The site is east of Elkoat 9102 E. Idaho St.

SAS Global Mining specializes inwear-resistant steel products usingthe company’s Chromium CarbideOverlay and Vanguard Alloy plates.According to Reynolds, the Elko shopoffers wear-resistant bed liners forhaul trucks, dozer blades and shovelbuckets.

The company also specializes indrag line liner systems, performance

chutes and piping systems, perform-ance hammers, breaker plates andaugers.

According to information from SASGlobal, the products can be utilized forprocessing copper, silver, gold, plat-inum and molybdenum.

There are also open-pit operationsapplications with the various bucket,blade, drag line and truck bed systems.Underground applications includedeck plates, sigma rails, pan liners,discharge conveyor deck liners andcrawler track wear runners. Reynoldssaid the sheets of treated steel are cutand manipulated in Elko.

Reynolds said the overlays extendthe surface life of the metal, thusextending the amount of time betweenshutdowns for refurbishment of theequipment. And, as anyone in the min-ing business knows, when equipmentis down it’s not making money.

If necessary, workers can completesome of the labor on site if bringingequipment to the Elko shop is not fea- Ross Andreson/Mining Quarterly

Elko Operations Manager of SAS Global Michael Reynolds talks about the new 30,000-square-footfacility in Elko that will serve the mining community.

SAS Global’s metal overlay extends equipment life

See SSAASS GGLLOOBBAALL,, 69


Elko OperationsManager of SASGlobal MichaelReynolds stands infront of a 2,200-ton press break —the largest in thewestern UnitedStates at the newElko shop. Mineequipmentbrought to theshop for rebuild-ing can be drivenin or brought in bya rail car thatleads directly intothe shop.


SAS Global ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 6688

sible, according to Reynolds.The Elko shop offers custom fabrication,

and utilizes a 2,200-ton press break — thelargest in the western United States. Theshop also has equipment to roll heavycylinders.

Mine equipment brought to the shop forrebuilding can be driven in or brought in bya rail car that leads directly into the shop.

Reynolds said either of one 50-ton or two20-ton overhead cranes can be used formaneuvering.

Some of the recent projects utilizing thespecial overlay wear plating have been onhaul trucks for Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortezand Newmont Mining Corp.’s Gold Quarrysites. Reynolds said SAS did 24 trucks forBarrick and 30 for Newmont so far.

“We feel that we’re installing betterproducts than those offered by our com-petitors,” Reynolds said.

For information on SAS Global Mining,go online to www.sasglobalcorp.com. TheElko shop can be reached at 775-777-1699.Reynolds may be reached by e-mail [email protected].

BByy RRIISSHHII DDAAUULLAATTMining Quarterly

ELKO — With RAM Enterprises celebrating its 20th anniver-sary, the company has big plans moving forward, includingbuilding new headquarters in Elko.

RAM will be building the new facility right next door to its cur-rent building, and the staff based out of Portland, Ore., hasalready relocated, making Elko the company’s flagship site.

RAM hopes to have the new building completed in 18 months.“It will house all RAM products and services,” said RAM Director

of Marketing Jerry Hayes. “We’ve outgrown the present one.”The new facility will include space for manufacturing

IMTECH products, he said.RAM’s first business involved selling off six truckloads of used

conveyor belts. A few years later, RAM also created rubber prod-ucts through the IMTECH rubber products line.

RAM currently has fabrication facilities in Elko, Salt Lake City,Utah, Kingman, Ariz., and Payson, Ariz., while the company alsohas IMTECH facilities, warehouses and distributors located inIdaho, Kansas, North Carolina and Alabama.

Tim Horn, president of the company, said he hopes that RAMcan create facilities all over the West Coast and potentially Alaska.

“We want to expand our footprint,” Horn said. “Our goal is for


RAM Enterprise Inc.This is Hoffman Architects LLC’s concept of how the new RAM Enterprise Inc.’s headquarters in Elko will look whencompleted.

RAM Enterprises prepares to expand

See RRAAMM,, 71


BByy JJAANN FFAALLSSTTAADDBillings Gazette

BILLINGS, Mont. — Slightly higherproduction and much better prices forpalladium and platinum provided a bigboost to Stillwater Mining Co.’s profitsduring the first three months of this year.

The company, which operates twomines that produce the rare metals in theBeartooth Mountains of south-centralMontana, reported net income of $36.2million for the first quarter, comparedwith $13.4 million for last year.

The earnings per share were 34 centsfor the first quarter of 2011 and 14 centsfor the same period last year.

Stillwater’s chairman and chief execu-tive, Frank McAllister, said that overall,he was pleased with the company’s per-formance.

Rising oil prices and the earthquakeand tsunami damage in Japan broughtpalladium prices down for the quarter

because of their impact on automobileproduction, he said, “However, I believethese factors will have a relatively short-term impact on PGM (platinum groupmetals) demand.”

Prices for the two metals for the quar-ter averaged $994 per ounce, a 54 percentincrease from 2010 prices. The price alsoreflected the end to contracts that placeda ceiling on what Stillwater Mining couldearn as prices rose.

Production at the main mine at Nyeincreased 2.4 percent to 98,600 ouncesof the metals used primarily in catalyticconverters in cars and trucks and jewelry.The East Boulder Mine production was32,600 ounces, down slightly by 100ounces from the first quarter of last year.

However, production costs alsoincreased this year, averaging $437 permined ounce, up $73 from the first quar-ter of last year.

The Billings Gazette is a Lee Enter-prise publication.

organic growth. We want to move forwardby creating service centers four or fivehours away from each other. Elko willalways be the mothership, we just want tokeep expanding our company. We’ve beenlooking at Wyoming as a location as well.”

Horn said that Alaska is the company’sfirst choice for another facility, and thecompany is currently studying the demo-graphics of the area to assess its financialfeasibility.

According to Hayes, the company hasmore than 150 employees and involvesservices, construction, repairs and processmaintenance.

RAM’s first construction project in Elkowas the Pacific Steel and Recycling locationon Idaho Street on the east end of town. Thecompany has also constructed domes, piersand platforms in the Elko area.

The IMTECH line was developed byRAM employees and started in 2000. TheIMTECH line compliments the conveyorbelts that are RAM’s main seller, since therubber lagging products are put on thepulleys that drive the conveyor belts.

“The IMTECH line is a very small part

of our company,” Horn said. “However, itdoes have great potential growth.Duplication is key. Our primary revenuestream is service work.”

RAM Enterprises was named after orig-inal owner Richard A. Milroy’s initials, andMilroy got the company started inFebruary 1991 by buying used belts andsending them off to Portland, where theywere repaired, slit to narrower widths andresold.

Portland was the headquarters in theearly days.

Milroy’s father, Dick, then joined RAMand the pair started a small belt vulcaniz-ing group in Elko. They rented a storageunit in Elko where the splicing materialsand vulcanizing press were kept and asthe company grew, RAM slowly moved allthe major processing and services intoElko.

RAM moved into the current 8,400-square-foot building it operates out of in2000, and Hayes said the company hasn’tyet decided what to do with that facilitywhen the new one is completed.

The new headquarters is in the plan-ning stages now, he said.

Stillwater reports $36.2million profit in quarter

RAM ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 7700


The company is still studying whether Sandmanwould be a surface or underground mine, Trudel said.

Newmont halted work on the new undergrounddecline at Northumberland after the contractedamount of drifting there until the company decidesthe next step, Trudel said.

Roughly six or seven people are on site there.“We followed through with what was in progress,”

he said. “We will be evaluating for three to sixmonths.”

Trudel said Newmont will look at both surface andunderground mining potential at Northumberland,where the company explored once before, in 1998.

“That was at a much lower gold price,” Hoffmansaid.

Gold prices are in the range of 1,500 an ounce now,but the average London P.M. Fix in 1998 was$292.24, according to kitco.com charts.

“We’re pulling out all the work we did in 1998 andall the work they (Fronteer) did and will enhance thedata base and evaluate the whole picture,” Trudelsaid.

Along with acquiring Fronteer’s key assets inNevada, Newmont also hired as many of Fronteer’skey people as it could, according to Hoffman.

“I think everyone stayed with us or went to PilotGold or went to a different company,” he said.

Pilot Gold is the new exploration company that

spun off from Fronteer when the sale was finalized,and Pilot Gold spokesman Raena Dumas said PilotGold kept the former Fronteer office on 11th Street inElko.

Pilot Gold’s Nevada projects include Anchor,Baxter Spring, Brik, Buckskin North, Cold Springs,Easter, Gold Springs 2, New Boston, Regent,Stateline and Viper.

The company also has the Halilaga and TV Towerprojects in Turkey and a property in Peru, and thecompany describes the two Turkey projects andRegent in southwestern Nevada as its key proper-ties.

Newmont also acquired the Big Springs Ranchadjacent to the Long Canyon property, and Trudelsaid the lease continues with rancher Randy Sto-well.

Along with Long Canyon, Newmont also ac-quired the South Pequop exploration project that isin a joint venture with Golden Dory and 40 percentof the West Pequop Project that Agnico-Eagleoperates.

“We’ll be talking to those folks,” Trudel said.The Pequop projects are part of the 50 projects

scattered throughout Nevada Newmont acquiredfrom Fronteer. Trudel estimated Newmont now hasaccess to more than 2 million acres of land in thestate, including private and leased land and miningclaims.


Exploration ...ELKO — Midway Gold Corp. has arranged $12 million in

financing to advance the company’s exploration projects, includ-ing Pan in White Pine County that a prefeasibility study indicatescould be a mine.

The financing was expected to close on June 6, under an agree-ment with Haywood Securities Inc., which agreed to purchase 7.5million shares of Midway for $1.60 per share, according to Midway.

Along with Pan, Midway’s other two key projects in Nevadaare Spring Valley in Pershing County that Barrick Gold Corp. isexploring under an option agreement and Midway near Tonopah.

R.J. Smith, manager of corporate administration for Denver-based Midway Gold, said on May 20 that there are four drill rigs atSpring Valley, two rigs at Pan and one at Midway.

Earlier, Midway reported drilling at Spring Valley in the last twoyears has resulted in the conversion of 2.16 million ounces of goldto the measured and indicated categories.

The new drilling also produced an additional inferred resourceof 1.97 million ounces of gold, the company reported.

At Pan, the prefeasibility study concluded the project couldbecome an economically viable heap leach mining operation.

The third-party report released in April estimated mine devel-opment would cost $79.25 million, the mine could have a life spanof more than nine years, and the mine could produce roughly77,000 ounces per year for 8.5 years.

The report states that Pan has proven and probable gold re-serves of 716,900 ounces grading 0.017 ounces per ton from theNorth Pan and South Pan ore bodies that would be included in thepit design.

By Adella Harding

Midway has exploration dollars


started with the company in 1986, at Mill1, and he didn’t even know what a minewas when he first went to work for AlPark Petroleum and hauled fuel to themines. “Coming from potato land, I hadno clue.”

He started as a mill laborer and laterdrove a 75-ton truck, then bulldozers andthen operated a hydraulic shovel.

John Bailey, the senior projects fore-man for Carlin operations, said he startedwith Newmont in 1987 as a truck driverat Gold Quarry Mine, “just as it wasstarting up,” and then he worked at Mill 1as a crusher and loader operator.

Just this year, he was in charge of tear-ing down all the buildings at the Mill 1site, “the foundations, everything. It willall be reclaimed.”

Bailey said a lot of people came to takephotographs as the historic first mill sitewas leveled in a day and a half.

“Mill 1 was the only mill for years, untilthey built Mill 4,” he said.

Newmont started out as an investmenthouse in 1916, and the company wasincorporated on May 2, 1921.

Colonel William Boyce Thompsonfounded Newmont as a holding companyfor private acquisitions in oil and gas,mining and minerals enterprises. Ac-cording to Newmont, he named the com-pany Newmont because, as one biogra-pher described it, "he grew up inMontana and made his money in NewYork.”

Publicly traded on the New York StockExchange since 1940, Newmont hasspent nearly 90 years primarily in thenatural resources industry — mininggold, copper, silver, lead, zinc, lithium,uranium, coal, nickel and aggregates,even dabbling in oil and gas.

Today, Denver-based Newmont is theworld’s second largest gold producerafter Barrick Gold Corp. and in 2011 isranked 394 on Forbes’ Global 2000 listand 295 on the Fortune 500, according toNewmont.

In 1940, when Newmont’s sharesbegan trading on the New York StockExchange, it was one of approximately1,000 companies on that Exchange.Today, only 77 of those 1,000 companiescontinue to be traded on the NYSE.

One of Newmont’s biggest challengeswas battling oilman T. Boone Pickens’attempted corporate takeover in 1987,followed by takeover attempts from theOppenheimer Empire of South Africa,Britain’s Hanson Trust and Sir JamesGoldsmith.

“Today’s Newmont is the goldenPhoenix that rose from the ashes of thosefights,” Morris wrote in “Going for theGold.”

Newmont expects to produce between5.1 million and 5.3 million ounces of goldthis year from its operations in Nevada,Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, New Zea-land and Ghana.

Newmont also has an advanced goldexploration project at Hope Bay inCanada.

Newmont’s latest effort to continuegold production well into the future is theacquisition of Fronteer Gold, includingthe Long Canyon Project in Elko Countythe company hopes to put into produc-tion as the start of a new Carlin-liketrend.

Newmont purchased Fronteer for$2.33 billion in April.

Newmont also has an advanced goldexploration project at Hope Bay in Can-ada that will be managed out of theNewmont’s regional headquarters inElko.

Newmont’s history also includes cop-per, and Newmont expects to producebetween 190 million and 220 millionpounds of copper this year.

Newmont was a major shareholder ofMagma Copper for many years and todayproduces copper at the Batu Hijau Minein Indonesia, as well as from the PhoenixMine in Nevada.

To add to Newmont’s holdings on theCarlin Trend, the company acquiredSanta Fe Pacific Gold in 1997 and BattleMountain Gold in January 2001, accord-ing to Newmont’s history.

Newmont then gained the Midas Mineand Australia mines with acquisition ofNormandy Mining in 2002. Newmontacquired Franco-Nevada Corp. in thedual deal.

Newmont stated it also continues totake steps that will make history in theindustry. Newmont points out on itswebsite that it became the first goldminer in 2007 to be included on the DowJones Sustainability Index-World.

The index includes industry leadersrated on their long-term economic, envi-ronmental and social responsibility per-formances.

Newmont has a history timeline on itswebsite for each decade of the company’s90-year history and there also is a link to“Going for Gold,” which was released lastyear.

———Newmont’s website is www.Newmont.com.


Anniversary ...


Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyLynda Sugasa, executive director of the Safe Haven Rescue Zoo near Unionville, mixes cement while volunteer Mark Miller of Winnemucca shov-els more mix. Miller and other miners helped build a tiger enclosure.

Siberian tiger Lulu restsin her temporary enclo-sure at the Safe HavenRescue Zoo in Marchwhile work was under wayon a her new, larger homethanks in part to a$25,000 donation fromthe Turquoise Ridge Mineoperated by Barrick GoldCorp.


AADDEELLLLAA HHAARRDDIINNGGMining Quarter Editor

UNIONVILLE — The Siberian tigerLulu has a new enclosure at the SafeHaven Rescue Zoo, thanks in a large partto volunteers from the Turquoise Ridgeand the Midas mines.

Barrick Gold of North America oper-ates the Turquoise Ridge undergroundmine in Humboldt County and is the 75percent owner. Newmont Mining Corp.is the 25 percent owner of the TurquoiseRidge Joint Venture and 100 percentowner of Midas in Elko County.

“We have made great progress on theenclosure fencing, and it is just aboutready to close in,” said Lynda Sugasa, thezoo’s executive director. “We are reallyexcited about the day we get to move Luluin.”

She said Barrick volunteers put up an8-foot secondary safety fence around theenclosure the first weekend in May, andengineers from the Midas undergroundmine came out to the site and construct-ed the base of Lulu’s multi-level climbingand shade platform.

Another work party from Barrick andNewmont was coming the followingweekend, Sugasa said, and the goal wasto have the enclosure completed in June.

“Our interns are constructing thedouble door safety entryway this week,”she said on May 10.

Sugasa said there also is a post inconcrete that will have a chain mountedon the stop so the staff can suspend“toys” for Lulu, and the tiger will have apool too.

“Enrichment items such as boomerballs, suspended toys, burlap or largepaper bags stuffed with straw andscents provide captive animals with theability to elicit their natural behaviors inthe wild, such as hunting, and reducethe stereotypical behaviors, such aspacing and excessive grooming,” shesaid.

Sugasa said the last step is to build atunnel-like entrance to the den and cre-ate a shell with fencing material, usingburlap bags cut in strips and layered,followed by four coats of colored mor-tar.

“This not only looks nice but alsofurther insulates the den and is a back-up that won’t burn in the event of a wild

Miners help build new home for tiger

See RREESSCCUUEE ZZOOOO,, 75

fire,” she said.WWoorrkk wweeeekkeennddss

Lulu was resting in her temporaryhome while volunteers from theTurquoise Ridge and Safe Haven RescueZoo staff worked on Lulu’s future home ashort distance away on the work week-ends.

“I’ve been here before, and this is thesecond time working. I think it’s good,”said Turquoise Ridge employee WesleyDe Vries at a March work session.

The tiger’s first enclosure wasn’t largeenough, so Turquoise Ridge came to therescue late last year with a $25,000donation to pay for construction materi-als.

The money also will go for expansionof a solar power installation at the zoosite near the ghost town of Star City inPershing County.

Betty Rogers of Winnemucca, whoworks at Turquoise Ridge, said on theMarch weekend this was her first day ofvolunteering at the rescue zoo, and shebrought her granddaughter, MistyGarner from Winnemucca, who drove

the ATV back and forth from the gravelpile to the cement mixer.

Richard Lindsay, who also works atTurquoise Ridge and lives in Winne-mucca, said the March session was hissecond visit to Safe Haven as a volunteeron the tiger enclosure project. The goalthen was to install 40 posts for the fenc-ing.

“It takes 56 panels for the entire enclo-sure,” Sugasa said.

“It’s a pricey endeavor. We have nopaid labor, which helps,” she said.

Mark Miller, another Turquoise Ridgeemployees who lives in Winnemucca,also volunteered on the March weekendand was busy helping Sugasa mix cementand with pole placement.

Safe Haven already has larger enclo-sures for two other tigers and two lions.The lions live together, but each tiger hasits own space.

Lulu, age 13, who came from a failedrescue zoo in Texas, needs 10,000 squarefeet of living space, according to Sugasa.

One of the Siberian tigers is Choi Hu,


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Rescue Zoo ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 7744

Safe Haven RescueZoo intern ErinO’Reilly holds a polewhile Richard Lind-say of Winnemuccachecks the level.Lindsay was one ofthe volunteers fromthe Turquoise RidgeMine building a newtiger enclosure.


See RREESSCCUUEE ZZOOOO,, 76

age 10, who came to the Nevada desertfacility from Seattle, where she was “liv-ing as a pet,” said Lindsey McKinney, anintern at Safe Haven who has a zoologydegree.

BBiigg eeaatteerrssChoi Hu eats four pounds of chicken

and four pounds of beef a day, and “sheloves her chicken,” McKinney said.

Lulu eats nine pounds of chicken andbeef a day.

Another tiger, Timber, also age 10,came to Safe Haven from the same placein Seattle, while the two lions came froma rescue zoo that went under in Texas, asdid Lulu.

“The two lions have been here aboutthree months,” McKinney said in March.“Kuvo and Ifaw are both 10 years old. It’stheir first winter in the snow. Kuvodoesn’t seem to mind.”

She said Ifaw tiptoes around on snowand sometimes doesn’t come out of herheated den when it is cold.

The lions can’t tolerate temperaturesunder 35 degrees, according to Sugasa.Siberian tigers, however, can handletemperatures of 45 degrees below zero.

Kuvo eats five pounds of beef and fivepounds of chicken, while Ifaw gets eightpounds a day.

The Elko and Winnemucca Walmartstores provide the meat, which is out-dated for sale to the public but fine forthe big cats.

While the big cats grab attention at

the zoo, there are smaller animals undercare there, including two cougars, twobobcats, two foxes and a coyote pup.

Safe Haven Rescue Zoo obtains opera-tions money from grants, donationsfrom companies and individuals andfrom its annual fundraiser.

The Safe Haven Rescue Zoo holdstours all year, including school tours.Sugasa reported that the Battle Moun-tain schools brought out children,teachers and parents this spring. Over athree-day period, 263 people visited thezoo.

Sugasa and her husband David, aretired corporate pilot who grew up inthe area, live on the 160-acre site thathas been operating four years, since SafeHaven relocated from Illinois.

“We built all of this in four years,” shesaid.

Safe Haven has a board, and LyndaSugasa said she also hopes to create apaid director’s position next year.

The foundation started in Illinois in2000 as a rehabilitation center for hun-dreds of animals, but over time the needfor more space for bigger animals led tothe decision to head out West.

Those interested in visiting the zoocan call 775-538-7093 to make anappointment so one of the interns will beavailable to conduct a tour. Safe Havenalso gives presentations at area schools,Sugasa said.

The website is www.safehaven-wildlife.com.


Rescue Zoo ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 7755

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyLions Kufo and Ifaw relax in their enclosure at the Safe Haven Rescue Zoo in Pershing County.Barrick Gold of North America and Newmont Mining Corp. help support the zoo.



ELKO —The Women’s Mining Co-alition’s 19th annual Fly-In to lobby law-makers and aides in Washington hadthree major focuses, including the time ittakes to permit exploration, mining andpower projects.

The 30 women also emphasized theimportance of reducing the reliance ofthe United States on other countries foressential minerals and talked about con-cerns over U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency actions, according toLynne Volpi of Elko, the WMC coordina-tor.

“I’d say the emphasis continues to beon permitting, but two of the big oneswere the EPA and how it’s oversteppingits mission by making policy instead ofcarrying out policy, and the need for aminerals policy in this country,” she said.

Volpi said project permitting that usedto be handled at the state level now has to“hit as many as 14 desks in D.C. before ithits the Federal Register. It’s not just the

exploration guys butthe big guys too.”

Nevada lawmak-ers, including Gov.Brian Sandoval, haveapproached InteriorSecretary Ken Sala-zar and U.S. Bureauof Land ManagementDirector Bob Abbeyabout the permittingdelays, and the WMCdelegates talked tolawmakers and com-mittee staffs aboutthe issue.

The WMC delega-tion also talked a lotabout jobs this year,and Volpi said shetold lawmakers andaides about Elko andthe jobs mining provides to area resi-dents, including the large number of pro-fessional jobs that pay very well.

EExxppoo bbooootthhVolpi said the delegation from WMC,

which will have a booth at the ElkoMining Expo June 9 and 10 at the ElkoConvention Center, came from 14 statesacross the country, representinghardrock and coal mining, utilities andmanufacturers that sell to the industry.

They completed 156 Senate and Housevisits, including those the attendeesscheduled with their specific legislatorsand brief visits, and Northwest Mining

SubmittedWomen’s Mining Coalition members who lobbied in Washington, D.C., in April pose for a picture while in the nation’sCapitol. The coalition will have a booth at the Elko Mining Expo June 9-10.

WMC lobbies Congress on mine issues

See CCOOAALLIITTIIOONN,, 78


Association Executive Director LauraSkaer also joined the group, as well astestifying in committee during the fly-in days.

“We tried to target people on com-mittees pertaining to mining andenergy issues,” Volpi said.

The WMC formed in Nevada to go toWashington to lobby against proposalsto reform the 1872 Mining Law and hasbeen flying into the nation’s capitalevery year since then to talk with law-makers and their aides about the min-ing industry, the jobs mining createsand generally tell their side of the story.

“There is a lot less surprise and moreawareness now, and people were awareof mineral reliance this year,” Volpisaid. “And everybody seemed to be onboard about what is happening with theEPA.”

She said the mineral reliance issue isone the WMC believes is especiallyimportant.

“If you rely on other countries, youdon’t control the supply, quality or thepollution,” Volpi said.

The WMC was in Washington April4-8, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on April 15 released a draft oflegislation to revitalize the nation’sofficial minerals supply chain.

“Minerals are the building blocks ofour economy. From rare earth ele-ments to molybdenum, we rely onminerals for everything from thesmallest computer ships to the tallestskyscrapers. This draft bill providesclear, programmatic direction to keepus competitive with foreign nationsand promote a stable supply of criticalminerals,” Murkowski said in herannouncement on the bill.

The WMC first talked with lawmak-ers about mineral reliance during lastyear’s fly-in, and they used a graphicthen that was updated to include 2010for this year’s fly-in to show howmuch the United States relies on min-eral imports.

A number of minerals used in theU.S. are 100 percent imported, includ-ing rare earths, bauxite and alumina,manganese, gallium and many more,according to the U.S. Geological

Survey chart.WWMMCC ccoonncceerrnnss

The WMC outlined concerns aboutEPA rule-making in literature pre-sented at the fly-in, including rulesimpacting the coal industry and thejobs they cost and called EPA regula-tion of greenhouse gases an economictrain wreck.

The coalition urged Congress toprohibit EPA from regulating green-house gases and support a long-termenergy policy that provides a “focusedeffort to advance clean coal technolo-gies.”

The WMC literature also states thatthe current rule-making methoddoesn’t take into account job loss orcost benefit analysis.

Volpi said the WMC representativesalso tried to show that they are “stew-ards of the environment” as part of themining industry.

The women attending the fly-inincluded engineers, geologists,hydrologists, plant managers, landmanagers, executives, analysts, con-sultants and community relations and

human resource specialists, accordingto WMC.

The National Mining Associationestimates there are 22,300 womenworking in mining across the country.

The WMC booth at this year’s Expois moving to near the back door of theconvention center from up front.Visitors can obtain pamphlets andinformation used in the fly-in, and“hopefully, we will be able to attractmore members,” Volpi said. “We have100 members across the country.”

Officers include: Cathy Suda withTech American Inc. in Spokane,Wash., president; Wanda Burget withPeabody Energy in Wyoming, vicepresident; Kathy Vaughn, Joy MiningMachinery in Virginia, secretary; andCami Prenn, Mine DevelopmentAssociates in Reno, treasurer.

Membership is open to “anyone insupport of talking to lawmakers aboutwanting a healthy mining industry,”Volpi said. “Our big focus is the fly-in.”

Dues are $30 a year. The website iswww.wmc-usa.org.

Coalition ...CCoonnttiinnuueedd ffrroomm ppaaggee 7777



ELKO — Newmont Mining Corp. is keeping drillingrigs busy at Long Canyon in the Pequop Mountains ofElko County since absorbing Fronteer Gold in April for$2.33 billion.

“We currently have a multi-rig program out there and35 to 40 people there,” said Wayne Trudel, NorthAmerican geology director of mines and exploration.

Newmont also acquired the Northumberland Project inNye County and the Sandman Project in HumboldtCounty, as well as Long Canyon, and “we’re moving on allthree of the core assets,” he said.

“We’re all extremely excited about it,” said LeeHoffman, regional capital manager for Newmont’s Nevadaoperations.

“The assets we picked up with Fronteer are highlyprospective and fit very well into our Nevada portfolio,”Trudel said.

He said Newmont acquired roughly 50 other explo-ration properties in Nevada in the acquisition of Fronteer,including joint venture agreements and many that aregreenfields projects with little or no drilling. Newmonthas to evaluate and rate all these properties, Trudel said.

“They are all literally exploration properties. Nothing is

in production. Wayne’s group really hit the ground run-ning,” Hoffman said.

Long Canyon between Wells and West Wendover was

the key attraction for Newmont because Fronteer hadadvanced the property to show the potential for anotherCarlin Trend.

Trudel said Newmont is doing a three-prong explo-ration program there. The work includes exploration onextensions of the known deposit, exploration on the landpackage and confirmation drilling on the existing deposit.

“We’re continuing to advance the project and gatheringbaseline information,” he said. “We don’t know theresource yet. That’s what we’re trying to learn and developright now.”

Fronteer’s last estimate before selling to Newmont wasthat Long Canyon had 2.2 million ounces of measured andindicated gold resources.

“We haven’t formulated whether it will be an open pitor underground,” Trudel said, also reporting that New-mont continues to use the former Fronteer trailers at Oasisand core shack in Wells.

Newmont already was drilling at the Sandman Projectin a joint venture with Fronteer, and Trudel said that workcontinues.

“We’ve completed phase I out there and initiated thenext phase. It’s moving along the internal pipeline,” hesaid. “We’re in the third drill season there.”

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyLee Hoffman, left, regional capital manager of Nevada opera-tions for Newmont Mining Corp., and Wayne Trudel, Newmont’sNorth American geology director of mines and exploration, pro-vide an update on exploration properties Newmont acquiredwhen the company bought Fronteer Gold.

Newmont drilling at Long Canyon

See EEXXPPLLOORRAATTIIOONN,, 72



ELKO — The Marigold Mine nearValmy is ramping up gold productionfrom Target II, and operator GoldcorpInc. stated this should offset lower pro-duction from the Basalt Pit in the secondhalf of this year.

Marigold’s production in the firstquarter was down 26 percent to 22,500ounces of gold for Goldcorp’s two-thirdsshare, compared with 30,500 ounces inthe 2010 quarter. Barrick Gold Corp.owns the other one-third of Marigold.

The total cash costs were up in thequarter to $785 per ounce, from $507 perounce last year because of lower gold pro-duction.

Goldcorp stated in its earnings reportthat the decrease in gold production inthe 2011 quarter was due to 5,500 fewerounces being stacked on the leach pad as aresult of a 17 percent drop in the ore grade.

Vancouver-based Goldcorp also statedthat mining and development work in thequarter focused on the Basalt Phase 7

open pit, while stripping of waste beganin the Target II Pit in March.

Marigold is Goldcorp’s only operationin Nevada, although Goldcorp and Bar-rick are planning the Arturo Project onthe Dee Mine property northwest ofCarlin.

Companywide, Goldcorp reported netearnings soared in the first quarter to $651million, or 82 cents per share, on highergold prices and higher production.

These net earnings compared with $232million, or 32 cents per share, in the 2010quarter, while adjusted net income was$397 million, or 50 cents per share, in the2011 quarter, compared with $159 million,or 22 cents per share, last year.

Revenues rose 69 percent over the 2010quarter to $2.1 billion, up from $718 mil-lion last year, according to Goldcorp’searnings report.

The average realized gold price was$1,394 per ounce in the first quarter, up 26percent over the average realized goldprice of $1,111 per ounce in the 2010 quar-ter, according to the earnings report.

“Operational strength throughout

Goldcorp’s mine portfolio and a recordhigh realized gold price resulted in astrong first quarter and a great start to2011,” said Goldcorp President and ChiefExecutive Officer Chuck Jeannes.

Gold production totaled 637,600ounces, although fewer ounces were soldin the quarter than produced — 627,300ounces. The 2011 production comparedwith 600,100 ounces in the 2010 quarterand sales that quarter of 544,200 ounces.

The total cash costs were $188 perounce on a by-product basis and $504 perounce on a co-product basis, according toGoldcorp.

“Our first-quarter gold production at acash cost of just $188 per ounce on a by-product basis was driven by continuedwork on cost containment throughoutthe organization in light of inflationarypressures as well as strong by-productmetals prices,” Jeannes said in the earn-ings report.

“We remain comfortable with 2011gold production guidance of between 2.65million and 2.75 million ounces of gold,but if the improving trend in cash costs

continues, we may revisit our guidance ofbetween $280-$320 per ounce cash costsas the year progresses,” he said.

Also in the United States, the WharfMine in South Dakota produced 13,300ounces of gold in the first quarter, downfrom 18,300 ounces in the 2010 quarter,and cash costs were up to $898 perounce, compared with $562 per ounce in2010.

Looking at its Penasquito operations inMexico, Goldcorp reported the minereached full milling capacity on March30, while producing 57,600 ounces ofgold and 4.37 million ounces of silver inthe first quarter.

Penasquito also produced 36.5 millionpounds of lead and 55.6 million poundsof zinc in the quarter to put by-productcash costs at a negative $1,488 per ounceof gold, the company reported.

In Canada, Red Lake produced 186,100ounces of gold during the first quarter at atotal cash cost of $322 per ounce, and asignificant amount of exploration is con-tinuing to bring the Upper Red Lake andFar East zones into sustained production.

Marigold to mine gold from Target II


Matt Unrau/Mining QuarterlyFourth-graders from Southside Elementary School learn how to identify minerals throughtheir physical properties in early May at Northeastern Nevada Museum. From left: BriannaPenola, Nallely Reynoso, Lupe Ortiz and Kohl McIntosh took part in the exercise as part of the“Gold Fever” presentation put on by Barrick Gold of North America and Newmont MiningCorp. volunteers.

THE STORY IN PICTURES

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyContract geologist Ed Hanley washes ore core for logging in the core building at theTurquoise Ridge Joint Venture property in Humboldt County. “Soon as I get the mudoff, I can see enough detail to log it,” he said in May.

Adella Harding/Mining QuarterlyNewmont Mining Corp. has examples on display at the South Operations Area north of Carlin that show thedifference in tire life when good practices are followed. The tire at left had only 377 hours of use, while theother tire had 7,106 hours.

Ross Andreson/Mining QuarterlyChris Corley, left, general foreman at Great Basin Gold Ltd.’s Hollister Project, flashes a light onthe timbers Hollister uses in its underground operations. Talking with him in early May is DougCrawford, Hollister mine manager.


2011 Elko Mining Expo VendorsBBooootthh NNoo.. CCoommppaannyy NNaammee

101 Sierra Electronics 102 Lubrication Equipment 103 L&M Radiator 104 Woman's Mining Coalition105 Energy Laboratories Inc106-7 Newmont Mining Corporation 108 ISCO Industries 109 Bureau of Land Management110 Maptek 111-12 Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc.113 P&H Mine Pro Services 114 Wet Lab-Western Environmental

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America/Mining Products137 George T. Hall 138 Hytorc West 139 JBR Environmental Consultants, Inc 140 Stec’s Advertising Specialties &

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Laboratory 160 Valley Forge & Bolt Mfg./ME-

Electmetal 161 DMC Mining Services162-63 Bucyrus164 Victaulic Company of America 165 Boreal Laser USA Inc 166 Netafim USA 167-68 Industrial Products Manufacturing169 Hose Solutions — Boreline170 SRK Consulting 171 Ad Wear, Incorporated172 Southwest Energy LLC173 Ashland Water Technologies 174 Layne Christensen Company 175 Rocky Mountain Machine Shop 176 Comanco Environmental Corp 177 Connors Drilling LLC 178 Summit Contracting179 Elko Tool & Fastener Inc 180 Schaeffer Oil Company 181 Univar USA Inc. 182 DSI Ground Support 188 Agru America 189 Northwest Mining Association

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300 Kaeser Compressor 301 Alidade 302 Intermountain Electronics 303 Hella Mining - Milex Technologies 304 Laron Incorporated 305 Bel-Ray Company Inc 306 Pentair307-8 EVCO House of Hose

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401 Shafer Equipment Company 403 Geoprobe Systems404 SS Shop Equipment405 Platform Safety Solutions 407 A-Z Bus 408,12 Nevada Highway Patrol 409 Southwest Products 411-15 Mountain Crane413 Swick Mining Services 416 National EWP Inc 417 Electrical Control Techniques Sales

and Service 418 Godwin Pumps 419 Aire Industrial


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423 New Frontier Structures 424 ECN Automation Inc426 Equivalent Controls Corporation427 Emerson Power Transmission42829 Steam Store of Elko430 Dyno Nobel 431 Shurjoint Piping Products 432 North American 433 MineARC Systems America LLC 434 Shot Crete Technologies 435 R.E.Y Engineers 436 Jorgenson Machine Tools 437 Intermountain Helical Piers 460-61 Titan International 462 JADCO Manufacturing Inc 463 Howe Systems Inc 464-65 Cummins Rocky Mountain LLC 466 Inland Supply Company 467 Peterbuilt 468 GCR Tire 469-72 Smith Power Products 473 Warner Truck474 Luxe Limo Services LLC 475 Direct View of Elko 476 Touch of Heaven Spas 477 Flexco 478 Tech-Flow, Inc 479 Timberline Drilling 480 Thiessen Team USA 481 California Industrial Rubber Co482 Liebherr Mining Equipment Co 483 BASF Admixtures Inc 485 Ross Equipment 488-93 Industrial Products Mfg. 494 Phoenix Process Equipment

Company Co 496 Valdor497 Tow Haul498 NNE Construction 499 Alta Drilling Equipment

501 Contech Construction Products503-4 Fordia505 Mixtec North America506 Challenger Pipe & Steel 507 Summit Enginneering 509 Conoco Phillips 511 Giant Rubber Water Tanks 512 DeBell Home Improvement Center 513 4 OCG LLC514 Sandvik Mining & Construction 515 Mobilight 517-18 Western Nevada Supply 519 Anvil International 520 Yanke Machine Shop522-23 Measurement Devices Limited

US LLC 524 Atlantis Casin Resort Spa 525 Chemtreat Inc526 Blue Ox

527 Pactsol Resource Network 528 General Tool 529 National Weather Service 530 Kinross Gold531 Yukon Nevada Gold Corp 532 Nevada Analytical 533 BTE West International 534 Cast Nevada Resource Inc 535 Mac Equipment536 FMC Technologies537 General Moly 538 Intermountain Drilling Supply 539 APS-Lighting & Safety Products 540 Wireless Beehive541 Normet Americas Inc 551-53 Sandvik Mining & Construction 554-55 Northern Nevada Equipment 556 EC & MW/Preventive Metallurgy 557 Gerlinger Steel & Supply/Broadbent

& Associates 558 Rema Tip Top 559 He-Baws569 Hose Power 570 Mine Rite571-74 Norco 575 SSAB Americas576 Arnold Machinery 577 NevCan Inc 578 Checkers Industrial Safety Products579 Mine Cable Services 580 5th Gear Power Sports 581-82 Coach America/KT Services 584 Statefire DC Specialties 585 Western Pump & Dredge / Resource

West586 AAMCOR LLC587 Red Lion Inn & Casino 588 Elko Wire Rope589 Kenworth Sales590 F& H Mining Supply Inc591 Hardrok Equipment Inc 592 Airgas

600 Komatsu Equipment Co601-2 Atlas Copco 603-4 Boart Longyear-Products606-7 Tons Per Hour609-11 Cashman Equipment616 Kaman Industrial 617 TREAD Corporation618 CH Spencer619 Fibergrate Composite Structures 620 SMI Evaporative Solutions621 Martin Engineering 639-40 Isringhausen, Inc 645 Clydeunion Pumps 646 Raven Industries 64749 Breathing Air Systems 667 OSW Equipment668 Blu-goo 669 Hilti671 WDC Exploration & Wells 672-73 AG Truck

674-75 Platt Electric 676 National 677 Mining Equipment LTD678-79 Redi Services680 Mac's Mountain States, Inc681 Cobalt Truck Equipment 682-83 Worthen Equipment

700 Monarch Mining Services701 Plasma Coatings, Division of

American Roller Co. LLC 702-4 Strata Safety Products703 MHF Services705 Enviroscientists, Inc.706 Howden North America707 P&H Mine Air 708 Van Der Graaf709 The Euclid Chemical Co. 710 Hanlon Engineering711 Durco Products 712 Indepent Drug Testing Supply713 Vogelsang USA 714 Tube Technologies, Inc715 DESWest 716 Philadelphia Gear Corp. 717 Worldwide Eco Solutions718 Logo Concepts 719 Bad Dog Tools 720 Intermountain Electric 721 AFEX Fire Supression Systems

722 American Med Flight 723 The Quikrete Companies724 Jensen Precast725 Engart Dust Extraction Technology 726 Rust Automation & Controls 727 Custom Ear Protect 728 Talbert Mfg Inc729 Brock Easley/VRC Protx 730 TenCate731 Empire Scaffold 732 Smith Works Fabrication, LLC733 ClearSpan Fabric Structures 734 Integrated Power Systems 735 United Site Services 736 Power Deck Co 737 Boot Barn 738 Mine Site Technologies 739 Utah Shrink Wrap 740 Western Fabric Structures 741-42 Danfoss Power Electronics 743 Marigold Mining744 Enterprise 745 DrillKing International, L.P.746 Riverside Inc 747 Carrera Concepts Intl

Food Vendor Come and Get it Kettle Corn Food Vendor Café XSage Lounge Hilton Garden Inn Food Vendor Fresh Squeezed



GOLCONDA — Geologists and drillingcompanies are busy at the TurquoiseRidge Joint Venture property pinningdown the potential for a gigantic open pitoperation on a large land package wheregold is now mined underground.

“Right now, we’re building confidencein the gold resource,” said Karl Marlowe,chief exploration geologist at TurquoiseRidge in Humboldt County. “We willultimately determine the best way tomine the property.”

The exploration work will lead to aprefeasibility study to be completed bythe end of 2012, he said. This follows ascoping study that was recently com-pleted that showed the open-pit poten-tial.

The scoping study points to theprospect of Turquoise Ridge producing800,000 ounces of gold a year.

Barrick President and Chief Executive

Barrick studies Turquoise pit potential

Contract geologist WayneJohnson of Spokane,Wash., logs core in abuilding on the TurquoiseRidge Joint Venture prop-erty in Humboldt Countywhere there are rows ofcore from explorationdrilling. Behind him isHoward Adams, a con-tract geologist out ofReno.



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Inside cover June 2011 Mining Quarterly

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Cover June 2011 Mining Quarterly

PUBLISHED BY THE ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS

QQUARTERLYUARTERLYSummer 2011

Jack Henris, mine manager of Newmont Mining Corp.’ssurface operations on the Carlin Trend, talks about theGold Quarry Mine that returned to production in timefor Newmont’s 90th anniversary.

Newmont Miningmarks 90th year

Adella Harding/photo

mining quarterly summer 2011

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