Scorpio Gold produces 5,741 ounces of gold in first quarter

Nevada-focused gold miner Scorpio Gold Corp (CVE:SGN) produced 5,741 ounces of the yellow metal from the Mineral Ridge project in the first quarter of 2017, it told investors.

That was down from the 8,508 ounces produced in the same period of 2016 due to reduced mining and processing while the project awaits approval to amend its revised operational plan, the firm said.

Scorpio said 138,392 tonnes were processed, compared to 251,587 tonnes in 2016.

The three months to end March saw 2,854 ounces of silver generated, against 3,921 ounces in the same period the previous year.

Scorpio Gold holds 70% of the Mineral Ridge property in Esmeralda county, Nevada, with joint venture partner Elevon LLC (30%). It is a conventional open-pit mining and heap-leach operation.

Interim chief executive Brian Lock said: “The first quarter production at Mineral Ridge was affected by a slowdown in mining and processing while the project awaits approval of the amendment to its revised plan of operations, which is pending from applicable regulatory authorities.

“The Custer pit and other areas, for which permitting is outstanding, will be evaluated for economics of associated mining timelines when permits are received.”

Last week, Scorpio posted positive net earnings for 2016 of $339,000 compared to a loss in 2015.

In the year as a whole,  the miner produced 36,879 ounces of the yellow metal at the Mineral Ridge  compared to 39,690 ounces during 2015.

That was at a cost of $881 per ounce versus $781 per ounce the previous year.

This led to revenues of $42.8 million compared to $44.6 million during 2015.

“Based on the company’s current mine plan, it currently anticipates mining of gold at Mineral Ridge through to August 2017,” the firm said.

“Due to permitting timelines, the company anticipates production of gold at Mineral Ridge to be 20 – 25,000 ounces from the Mary LC, Brodie and Bluelite south pits.”

It noted that the  Custer pit and other areas for which permitting is outstanding, were not included in this estimate.

In March, Scorpio kicked off a drilling program on a heap leach pad at Mineral Ridge in a bid to potentially recover up to  130,000 ounces of gold.

The work consists of 34 holes to provide sampling of around 6.3mln tonnes of mineralized material contained within the pad.

The company also holds 100% of the exploration-stage Goldwedge property in Nevada, which has a permitted underground mine and 400-tonne-per-day mill facility.

Goldwedge has been placed on a care-and-maintenance basis and can be restarted on short notice.

Story by ProactiveInvestors