Submitted by Frank Rollins as part of our contributors program.
Today, after running tests and evaluations over the past few months, Pershing Gold Corporation (OTCBB: PGLC) has released drill results from its acquired Relief Canyon Mine and surrounding property. The results indicate that Pershing Gold’s mine and processing facility will likely resume operations. According to today’s 8:00am press release, “The 12 core holes that Pershing Gold completed tested deeper zones than previously tested. Pershing Gold’s deeper core holes, located near historic reverse circulation holes, have discovered gold zone intercepts thicker than the gold zone intercepts in the older reverse-circulation holes. A comparison of the results from RC12-017 with SPRC-140, which was drilled in 1984 by Southern Pacific Land Co., illustrates this point. SPRC-140 intercepted 100 feet of 0.44 grams per ton (gpt) (0.013 ounces per ton (opt) gold. RC12-017, which is roughly 35 feet west of SPRC-140, has intercepted 215 feet (from 220 to 435 feet) of 0.504 gpt (0.015 opt) gold.”
“These results represent real progress toward our first goal to expand known mineralization and advance the Relief Canyon Mine towards production,” said Stephen D. Alfers, Pershing Gold’s Executive Chairman and CEO.
See the full press release at Globe Newswire’s website.
Background
Pershing Gold’s Relief Canyon Mine was acquired from Victoria Gold Corp. (TSX-V: VIT) in late March, when Pershing Gold expanded its land position from just 1,100 acres to over 24,000 acres. The acquisition took place after Victoria Gold filed for bankruptcy and left Pershing with the abandoned gold mine facility.
Pershing Gold possesses a portion of the gold-rich land surrounded by major gold suppliers including Barrick Gold ($44 billion market cap), Newmont Mining ($25 billion market cap), Allied Nevada ($3 billion market cap), and Paramount Gold & Silver ($480 million market cap). It owns a multi-billion dollar gold processing plant, equipped with state-of-art technology and a research team comprised of geologists Robert Casaceli, Larry Hilleslan, Debra Struhsacker and Quentin Browne.
Currently, Pershing has three major mining projects underway: the Red Rock Property, the Pershing Gold and Silver Trend, and the North Battle Mountain Property. As the company’s main property, the Pershing Gold and Silver Trend near Relief Canyon is surrounded by prolific neighboring mines and discoveries including Coeur d’Alene’s (NYSE: CDE) Rochester Mine with over 100 million ounces of gold produced annually, the Florida Canyon Mine with over 2 million ounces of gold produced annually, the Standard mine with 500,000 ounces of gold produced annually, and the Spring Valley discovery with nearly 1.8 million ounces of estimated gold production annually. A landmark deal was recently achieved between Pershing Gold and Victoria Gold regarding production at the Relief Canyon property.
Steve Alfers
Earlier this year, Stephen Alfers was appointed as Executive Chairman and CEO at Pershing. Mr. Alfers is known in the Nevada mining industry for his executive management experience prior to joining Pershing. He was the Chief of U.S. Operations at Franco-Nevada (NYSE: FNV) from 2002 to 2007 was to serve as senior executive. Mr. Alfers was associated with Franco-Nevada for more than 19 years. Before joining Franco-Nevada, Mr. Alfers was President and CEO of NewWest Gold, during which he was critically involved in developing Nevada gold properties, such as Long Canyon, Sandman, and Northumberland. Following the sale of NewWest Gold to Fronteer Gold in 2007, Mr. Alfers served as a senior consultant for the exploration and development drilling of the Long Canyon discovery, with a target production date of 2017. Twenty years of extensive experience in mining, oil, and gas firms awards Mr. Alfers the role as advising international mining transactions, mergers, and acquisitions.
Company Overview
Pershing Gold Corporation (PGLC), formerly Sagebrush Gold Ltd. (SAGE), is an exploration-stage gold and minerals exploration company focused on searching for gold and other mineral resources and seeking out exploration and development targets. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Arttor Gold LLC, the Company has the rights to explore on two Carlin-type gold properties located in Lander County, Nevada, North Battle Mountain Mineral Prospect and the Red Rock Mineral Prospect. On August 30, 2011, the Company acquired gold exploration claims in Pershing County.
Disclaimer
I do not recommend that you buy or sell any security. I have not accepted compensation to write about Coeur d’Alene (NYSE: CDE), Franco Nevada (NYSE: FNV), Pershing Gold (OTC: PGLC), or Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM). I am a freelance writer, and through writing free articles, I hope to build a repertoire of work for future work applications. I have no plans to initiate any position in Couer d’Alene, Franco Nevada, Pershing Gold, or Newmont Mining within the next two weeks.
