Vancouver-based explorer Rise Gold (CSE: RISE) announced Thursday that it has submitted an application for a use permit to Nevada County to allow the reopening of its 100% owned Idaho-Maryland gold mine in California.
The use permit application proposes underground mining to recommence at an average throughput of 1,000 tonnes per day, Rise said. The application and permitting process are being managed by Benchmark Resources, a California-based planning and environmental consulting firm.
In the two years before closure, mine production averaged 920 tonnes per day with a mill head grade of 0.38 oz per tonne and 121,000 oz of gold production per year
Idaho-Maryland is a past producing gold mine which produced 2.4 million ounces of gold at an average mill head grade of 17 g/t gold from 1866-1955, according to Foster Wheeler Americas’ technical report on the Idaho-Maryland project in June 2017.
The mine was the second largest lode gold producer in the United States before being forced to close under a War Production Board Order during World War II. In the two years before closure, 1940 and 1941, mine production averaged 920 tonnes per day with a mill head grade of 0.38 oz per tonne (12.9 g/t) and 121,000 oz of gold production per year.
Rise Gold recently completed 67,500 feet (20,600 metres) of exploration core drilling at the Idaho-Maryland mine. Numerous high-grade gold intercepts were encountered, both near the existing mine workings and to depths significantly below historical mining areas.
This past spring, a new intercept from drill hole I-19-12B confirmed a large exploration target on the Idaho #1 vein. Results from this interception yielded 1.35 ounces per tonne at 3.5 feet within broader interval assaying higher grade interval of quartz 3.24 ounces per tonne over 1.2 feet.
The company said it is fully financed to complete the county’s permitting process.
By market close Thursday, Rise Gold’s shares were up 7.6% on the CSE. Trading volume reached 298,698, over twice the daily average of 145,985. The company has a C$15.25 million market capitalization.
