Nevada Gold Companies Digging Deep: Part 2

We’ve already covered four companies staking their claim in Nevada’s gold mining space, but they’re far from the only ones.

And while most of the companies covered in the last instalment of this series are operating in the south of the state, there are plenty of companies making waves in the north. Here’s a look at seven such companies.

Nevada Exploration (TSXV:NGE)

Nevada Exploration differentiates itself from other companies in the region by focusing on its Groundwater Chemistry Exploration Program. The company claims this approach allows it to advance on previously unexplored gold targets in Nevada, as opposed to going over the same properties that have been analyzed by mining companies for years.

The company hasn’t been in the news since September, when it announced the adjustment of its land holdings to better focus on projects that are showing the highest potential for gold deposits. The projects Nevada Exploration will move forward on include Grass Valley, South Grass Valley, Kelly Creek, Hot Pot and Awakening, which cover a combined 20,000 acres.

“We manage exploration risk using a standardized, staged exploration program at each of our projects, and each year we apply clear criteria to allocate our resources to the projects most likely to provide our shareholders with exposure to new gold discoveries,” Nevada Exploration CEO and Chairman Wade Hodges said last month. “At this time, we believe our targets in north-central Nevada present the best opportunities for new discoveries, and this is the rationale behind our recent acquisition of the new South Grass Valley Project in late 2013, and our continued efforts at our now 100 percent controlled Grass Valley Project.”

Midway Gold (TSXV:MDW,NYSEMKT:MDW)

Midway Gold recently began mining at the Pan gold project in White Pine County, Nevada. It is the company’s first open-pit, heap leach project, and the first gold pour is forecast for the final quarter of 2014.

However, it should be noted that Mother Nature has played a role in slowing Midway down.

“Overall, the project is proceeding on a schedule that should allow for gold production to begin late this year,” Midway President and CEO Ken Brunk said in a recent statement. “Unfortunately, the schedule for completion has slipped by approximately one month due to extraordinary summer rainfall, especially impacted by a major storm event at a critical construction time in late July. The severe rainfall referred to has resulted in excess of 2.5 million dollars in damage and attendant re-work of the leach pad liner, pond ditching, as well as site accessibility and other damage.”

On the bright side, Brunk said these issues are not expected to cause material cost overruns. However, more delays, such as those caused by unseasonal weather, could lead to the first gold pour being postponed until the first quarter of 2015.

Klondex Mines (TSX:KDX,OTCMKTS:KLNDF)

Focused in North-Central Nevada, Klondex Mines produces both gold and silver at its Midas mine and Fire Creek project.

The company recently released its third-quarter 2014 operational results.

“This past year has been one with important milestones for Klondex as we transform from a development company into a producer,” said Paul Andre Huet, Klondex’s president and CEO, in an October press release. “The realized synergies in Nevada are demonstrated in the production results. The mill throughput remained consistent, averaging approximately 600 tpd for the quarter with gold and silver recoveries of 94.7 percent and 95.8 percent, respectively.”

Huet said he expects the company’s overall recovered ounces for 2014 to be higher than previously expected, reaching 95,000 gold equivalent ounces.

Nexus Gold (TSXV:NXS)

A Vancouver-based mineral exploration company, Nexus Gold is focused on the Walker Ridge gold project in the Independence/Jerritt Canyon gold trend in Nevada.

The company only began operations at Walker Ridge in September, using a technique intended to optimize drill hole selection while reducing the costs and risks associated with traditional exploration drilling. The targets include two large, low-density/low-resistivity flanks separated by a higher-density septum. All told, the Walker Ridge property covers 4,000 acres.

It remains to be seen what results will come from Nexus’ cutting-edge technique.

NuLegacy Gold (TSXV:NUG,OTCMKTS:NULGF)

The Iceberg gold deposit in the Cortez gold trend in Nevada is the providence of NuLegacy Gold; it is optioned from Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX).

Besides personnel and company director updates, not much has been new with NuLegacy in recent weeks. The last news regarding the Iceberg deposit was that the company has commenced drilling initial holes for tests, with plans to begin an exploration program this fall.

Pershing Gold (TSXV:PGLC)

A Nevada gold producer focusing on reopening the Relief Canyon mine in Pershing County, Pershing Gold recently announced positive results from its ongoing step-out core drilling program.

The company reported on October 21 that it has intercepted 0.119 ounces per tonne gold from Relief Canyon 2014 drill hole 203.

“Our continued success in expanding this high-grade zone in the Relief Canyon deposit is very exciting,” said Stephen D. Alfers, Pershing Gold’s chairman and CEO, in a media release. “Specifically, holes RC14-211 and RC14-211A offset the wide intercepts in holes RC14-193 and RC14-195 previously reported. In addition, holes RC14-205 and RC14-207 offset previously reported holes RC14-177 and RC-179. These two zones are more than 600 feet apart, and additional drilling is planned later this year to test the continuity of these zones.”

Gold Standard Ventures (TSXV:GSV,NYSEMKT:GSV)

An advanced-stage gold exploration company in Nevada, Gold Standard Ventures is mostly focused on its 100-percent-owned and controlled Railroad-Pinion gold project in the Carlin trend.

The company reported on October 15 that it expanded its drill program at the project after assays revealed high values and identified a new surface gold target. Assay results include 27.4 meters of 1.05 grams per tonne gold, 130.8 meters of 0.35 grams per tonne gold and 14 meters of 0.38 grams per tonne gold.

“With gold mineralization at the surface, both in a northerly trending breccia and along the Devil’s Gate/Nevada group contact, we have good potential to expand Pinion to the north,” Gold Standard Vice President of Exploration Mac Jackson said in a news release. “This complex area of intersecting north- and northwest-striking faults is poorly tested with wide-spaced historic drilling. We plan to test the breccia at shallow depths, down dip from the channel samples with six to 10, west-directed angle holes. This is just one of the quality targets we’ll test in our phase 2 program, which is currently in progress at Pinion.”

Did we miss a gold company that’s doing good work in Nevada? Tell us in the comments!

Related reading: 

Nevada Gold Companies Digging Deep: Part 1

Gold in Nevada: Juniors Leading Resurgence

Gold Mining in Nevada