Gold revival (TSXV: RVG; US-OTC: RVLGF) has issued inspections that bolster confidence at its previously producing Mercur gold project in Utah as it works toward a construction decision by early 2028.
Drill hole RMC25-028 cut 25 meters grading 4.2 grams gold per tonne from a depth of 43 metres, including 5.7 meters at 9.8 grams gold in near-surface oxide gold mineralisation, the company said on March 4. Additional results showed 7.1 meters at 6.5 grams of gold from 35 meters in hole RMC25-025. This followed 1 gram gold over 30.5 meters at 25.9 meters down hole RM25-165 in February.
Revival has completed 13,000 meters of drilling in preparation for a pre-feasibility study (PFS) at Mercur, which it plans to deploy in early 2027. The company has begun permitting work at the site 57 km southwest of Salt Lake City for the first phase, which aims to produce a typical 95,000-105,000 ounces. gold annually, according to a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released last year. It plans to make a construction decision after completing the feasibility study at the end of next year.
“It’s a relatively modest initial project,” said Hugh Agro, the company’s chief executive. “But with the land package we have and this being a Carlin-type system — these are large gold systems in Nevada that host millions of ounce gold deposits — we believe this is just the beginning and the project will grow from here.”
Existing infrastructure
The Mercur mine produced approximately 2.6 million ounces. Gold from the 1870s through its most recent run under Barrick Mining Company (TSX: ABX, NYSE: B) between 1985 and 1997, including approximately 1.4-1.5 million ounces. Of recent operations, according to historical records and company disclosures.
The project’s location on private land, with existing infrastructure from its previous life as an active mine and no water features that would allow for impact, would result in a short two-year approval process, Agro said. Revival plans to move quickly on the known accretive resource with a development capital investment of $208 million to generate free cash flow that Agro said will fund subsequent exploration.
Mercur hosts 35.3 million tonnes indicated at 0.66 grams gold for 746,000 ounces contained, according to the 2024 PEA. The project contains an additional 36.2 million tonnes at 0.54 grams gold for 626,000 contained ounces.
“These are the types of deposits that can transform a company,” Agro said. “In fact, the Goldstrike mine in Nevada began as a small open-pit leach operation in the Carlin system that evolved into the multi-million-ounce mine that built Barrick.”
Risk management
The CEO said Revival’s phased approach is key to managing exploration and development risks for investors.
“This is something that the development industry has often gotten wrong. We talked about net asset values and returns but we didn’t talk about the risks associated with those things,” Agro said. “If you are in unspecified locations and have extensive data and technical expertise, including the operators who operate those locations, your risk is lower.”
Revival plans to drill another 16,000 meters this year to support PFS, and the CEO said the company is on strong financial footing to advance the critical work.
“We finished last year with about $18 million (US$13.1 million) and are funded to start programs,” Agro said, adding that Revival is likely to do some fundraising later this year in preparation for busy feasibility work for 2027. The company is considering options to finance Mercur’s development, but Argo expects traditional debt arrangements with lender discussions to begin in earnest next year.
He added that Australia-based EMR Capital and Toronto-based Dundee Corp are “strong financial partners”, as they together own about 17% of Revival while more than half of the company’s shareholders are high-quality institutions.
Bertrak Arnett
Revival continues to monitor the company’s ongoing exploration work Beartrack-Arnett Project in Idaho Which has found 5.5 km of metal strikes so far. Drilling south of the Sharkey target and at Gosse is intended to build on higher-margin underground material associated with the 2023 pre-feasibility study resource. Total open pit and subsurface resources show 86.2 million measured tonnes and determined at 0.87 grams of gold for 2.4 million ounces. Gold and another 50.7 million tons inferred with 1.34 grams of gold for 2.2 million ounces.
Agro said 1.1 million ounces. From 4.6 million ounces. Containing gold, there are open heap leach resources that will be developed under the company’s phased approach.
“We can engineer, permit and build a modest-scale open pit leaching operation using existing infrastructure, while at the same time drilling for the larger, more valuable target in the ground below,” Agro said.
Previous product
Beartrack produced about 600,000 oz. Gold during the 1990s under Meridian Gold (now American) while historic alluvial operations extracted approximately 1 million ounces. The site contains roads, power lines and a processing plant that will be renovated. The first phase of production and renovation of the plant could cost $110 million, according to PFS. Argo expects the permitting process to take 3.5 years.
In 2022, the company reported drilling at a 115.4 meter Goss cross target grading 3.49 grams gold from approximately 649 meters downhole BT22-242D, including 11.4 meters grading 10.12 grams gold.
Agro sees an opportunity for developers as gold prices rise as central banks and others look to add to their gold holdings and sources of new production in safe zones become increasingly scarce. With existing field sites and infrastructure, Revival offers a low-risk opportunity for developers, the CEO said.
“We see two big geosystems, a clear path to free cash flow and a short path to production.”
The above sponsored article is promoted content sponsored by Revival Gold and produced in collaboration with Northern Miner. Visit: https://revival-gold.com for more information.
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