Scorpio signs toll milling contract at Goldwedge

An aerial view of the Mineral Ridge gold mine, 56 km southwest of Tonopah, Nevada. Credit: Scorpio Gold

Scorpio Gold has announced that it has signed a toll milling agreement with Lode-Star Mining for the processing of ore at its 363 tonne-per-day Goldwedge mill.

Lode-Star will advance the funds required to add a flotation circuit to the mill which is currently configured with a gravity circuit. The Lode-Star ore requires both gravity concentration and flotation; the expenses incurred for the mill upgrades will be recouped through reduced toll milling rates.

Once the flotation circuit is added, the Goldwedge mill will be able to process both carbonaceous and sulphidic ores, with a greater toll milling availability and improved recoveries for any future processing the Goldwedge deposit.

Scorpio Gold wholly owns both the Goldwedge and Mineral Ridge projects in Nevada. Goldwedge features a past-producing, permitted underground mine with the 363 tpd mill on site. Mineral Ridge is the site of an open pit and heap leach. Mining there was suspended in 2017 but a 2018 feasibility study evaluated processing residual heap leach material and mining of higher-grade open pit ores with an associated net present value estimate of $35.1 million, at a 5% discount rate.

(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)