
i-80 GOLD CORP. (TSX: IAU) (NYSE: IAUX) reports its operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2023. i-80’s Consolidated Interim Financial Statements (“financial statements”), as well as i-80’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Operations and Financial Condition for the three months ended March 31, 2023, are available on the Company’s website at www.i80gold.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
Unless otherwise stated, all amounts referred to herein are in U.S. dollars.
2023 First Quarter Highlights:
“We are encouraged to have achieved the milestone of our first gold sale from Granite Creek, with over 400 ounces sold. We continue to advance development and improve production capabilities at this site and expect a ramp up through 2023. In addition, we continued to have production from the residual leaching at both Lone Tree and Ruby Hill”, stated Ryan Snow, Chief Financial Officer of i-80. “We continued to advance development at McCoy-Cove and exploration at Ruby Hill spending nearly $9.0 million during the quarter to further understand the Hilltop and Blackjack zones at Ruby Hill and the CSD Gap ore body at McCoy Cove. With the additional capital raise completed in February, we will continue to advance i-80’s projects towards our ultimate goal of being a mid-tier Nevada focused producer.”
Three months ended March 31, |
||
(in thousands of U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted) | 2023 | 2022 |
Revenue | 4,548 | 2,857 |
Cost of sales | (6,542) | (1,525) |
Depletion, depreciation and amortization | (1,421) | (167) |
Mine operating income (loss) | (3,415) | 1,165 |
Expenses | ||
Exploration, evaluation, and pre-development | 8,979 | 9,254 |
General and administrative | 5,191 | 3,273 |
Property maintenance | 2,449 | 326 |
Share-based payments | 1,308 | 1,442 |
Operating loss | (21,342) | (13,130) |
Production and sales totaled 2,349 gold ounces for the quarter at a realized gold price of $1,9271 per ounce sold.
Exploration, evaluation, and pre-development costs were $9.0 million in Q1. This expenditure mainly reflects the exploration and pre-development work at McCoy Cove and Ruby Hill.
Lone Tree
Lone Tree is expected to become the hub of i-80’s Nevada operations and the central processing facility for gold mineralization from the Granite Creek, McCoy-Cove and Ruby Hill underground gold deposits. Importantly, Lone Tree is host to infrastructure that, following successful refurbishment efforts, will position i-80 as one of only three companies in the United States capable of processing both oxide and refractory mineralization.
During the quarter, the Company continued leaching the residual material on the pads as planned and shipped approximately 1,950 ounces of gold on loaded carbon from site to further processing. Additionally, the Company continued to advance the engineering study and cost estimate for the restart of the autoclave.
Lone Tree produced and sold from its residual leaching activities 663 ounces of gold during Q1 at a realized gold price of $1,9621 per ounce sold.
Granite Creek
During Q1 the Company continued its efforts to upgrade existing de-watering infrastructure to ensure efficient operations and have mined 16,648 tons of mineralized material at an average grade of 9.9 g/t, of which 9,389 tons of oxide material was hauled to the Lone Tree leach pad to continue processing. As of March 31, 2023, 1,870 feet of development were completed as part of the Company’s ramp up plan.
Granite Creek produced and sold 444 ounces of gold during Q1, at a realized gold price of $1,9381 per ounce sold.
McCoy-Cove
There was 7,210 feet of core and RC drilling conducted during the first quarter of 2023 for hydrogeologic characterization to support permitting efforts. Underground delineation drilling continued during Q1 with 10,699 feet of core drilled. Expenditures continued during the quarter on the exploration ramp and hydrology studies, and engineering of de-watering and mining options. As of the end of the first quarter, development footage completed was 1,308 feet. Total footage development of the project life as of Q1 2023 is 4,403 feet.
Ruby Hill
During the first quarter of 2023, drilling at Ruby Hill was primarily focused on further definition and expansion of high-grade polymetallic mineralization along the Hilltop fault structure, successfully extending mineralization over a strike length of approximately 750 metres and resulting in the discovery of additional zones. 13,875 feet of core drilling and 25,750 feet of RC drilling was completed during the quarter. In addition to drilling at Hilltop, multiple holes are being drilled to test the Blackjack Zone and these holes are intended at testing new targets. The Ruby Hill property provides significant optionality as it is host to oxide gold, sulphide gold, polymetallic CRD and skarn base metal mineralization. All deposits are located in close proximity to the underground infrastructure development being planned in 2023.
Residual leaching activities at Ruby Hill produced and sold 1,242 ounces of gold during Q1 at a realized gold price of $1,9041 per ounce sold.
Qualified Persons
Tyler Hill, CPG-12146, Chief Geologist, and Tim George, PE, Mining Operations Manager, at i-80 have reviewed this press release and are the Qualified Persons for the information contained herein and are a “Qualified Person” within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
About i-80 Gold Corp.
i-80 Gold Corp. is a Nevada-focused mining company with a goal of achieving mid-tier gold producer status through the development of multiple deposits within the Company’s advanced-stage property portfolio with processing at i-80’s centralized milling facilities.
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