i-80 Gold begins shipping of Granite Creek ore to Barrick's Twin Creeks processing facility

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(Kitco News) - On Tuesday, i-80 Gold (TSX: IAU) announced it has begun shipping ore from the Granite Creek Mine to Nevada Gold Mines ("NGM"), Twin Creeks processing facility, as per the company's toll-milling agreement negotiated as a part of the acquisition of the Lone Tree property.

The company said that this shipment represents another major milestone achieved, ahead of schedule, in i-80's 2022 comprehensive plan. 

"This milestone is another key achievement realized by the i-80 operations team, who's hard work and focus has paved the way to make this historic event possible," stated President & COO Matt Gili. "The goal now is to continue to advance development, ramping up mining to 450 tons per day by the end of the year and further accelerate mining in 2023 to achieve our target of 1,000 tons per day in H2 2023."

Given timing of the testing of the initial ore sent to NGM under the toll-milling agreement, and an initial blending program by NGM, the company does not expect to report ounces from Granite Creek until the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Granite Creek Property is located proximal to Nevada Gold Mines' Turquoise Ridge and Twin Creeks mines at the north end of the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, at its intersection with the Getchell gold belt in Nevada.

The Granite Creek deposit remains open at depth and along strike from the existing underground workings and step-out drilling aimed at expanding resources is currently underway.

i-80 Gold 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 anticipated to be processed at the centrally located Lone Tree processing facility and autoclave.

Nevada Gold Mines is a joint venture between Barrick (61.5%) and Newmont (38.5%) that combined significant assets across Nevada in 2019 to create the single largest gold-producing complex in the world. Nevada Gold Mines is operated by Barrick.