Frank Giustra-backed Fiore Gold (TSXV: F) will invest $2 million on metallurgical test work and resource expansion drilling at its Gold Rock project in Nevada.
In a press release, Fiore said that the work is aimed at supporting a Preliminary Economic Assessment targeted for the end of the year, which should lead to a construction decision by mid-2021.
The company is planning approximately 10,000 metres of core and reverse circulation drilling to expand the existing resource, upgrade inferred resources to measured and indicated, and collect samples for orebody characterization and metallurgical testing.
Fiore might use Pan's existing carbon handling and refinery facilities as well as the power line to serve the Gold Rock projectIt is also planning to run metallurgical testing to determine the most economical recovery method and establish expected gold recoveries.
"We're especially pleased that we are able to fund the work internally thanks to the strong performance of our nearby Pan Mine," Tim Warman, Fiore's CEO, said in the media statement. "With the federal permits for mining and processing issued last year, the timeframe for development of Gold Rock is largely in our hands."
Gold Rock is located some 13 kilometres southeast of Pan and it is one of the few federally-permitted development projects in Nevada. It received its Record of Decision in late 2018 from the United States Bureau of Land Management for the construction of a mine, process facilities and other infrastructure.
According to the Canadian miner, Gold Rock hosts an indicated resource of 238,700 gold ounces or 9 million tonnes at 0.82 g/t gold, and an inferred resource of 180,900 gold ounces or 7.8 million tonnes at 0.72 g/t gold. This mineral resource is centered around the former Easy Junior open pit mine and covers approximately 3.1 kilometres of a 16.5 kilometre-long trend of prospective geology, structure, and alteration with pervasive gold and pathfinder element anomalies in soil and rock samples.