Silicon

PROPERTY:
Silicon
Operator:
AngloGold Ashanti NA
Location:
Nevada, U.S.
AOI (km2):
79
Commodity:
Gold
Royalty:
1.0% NSR
Status:
Development
Silicon location map

Overview

  • Epithermal gold project owned by AngloGold Ashanti NA (“AngloGold”)
  • Total resource of 4.22 million ounces of oxide gold from the Silicon deposit as of December 31, 2022, including 3.4 million ounces in the indicated category and 0.8 million ounces in the inferred category
  • Initial test work indicates Silicon deposit is amenable to heap leach processing 
  • Ongoing exploration and infill drilling are planned to continue at the Silicon and Merlin
  • Permitting and mine construction to come in future years

Latest Project Update

On February 22, 2023, AngloGold declared a total mineral resource on the Silicon deposit of 4.22 million ounces,, including indicated resources of 3.4 million and inferred resources of 800,000 ounces gold. The increase in mineral resource ounces was a result of successful greenfields exploration, supported by an open pit optimization at US$1,750 per ounce gold to demonstrate reasonable prospect of economic extraction. Testing completed in 2022 provided more details regarding metallurgical variability of the transitional and unoxidized material. This resulted in a reduction in heap leach recovery compared to the previous assumptions. Continued studies will further refine the recovery estimates and evaluate the addition of a third processing option that may be more suitable for those materials. The table below illustrates the year-on-year changes in mineral resource:

Source: AngloGold Ashanti Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Report as at December 31, 2022 [1]

Additional highlights include the following:

  • Indicated resources of 121.56 million tonnes grading 0.87 g/t gold for 3.4 million ounces and 3.98 g/t silver for 15.54 million ounces, signalling a full conversion from inferred resources announced in 2022;
  • Additional inferred resources of 36.03 million tonnes grading 0.70 g/t gold for 800,000 ounces and 1.92 g/t silver for 2.23 million ounces;
  • Silicon pre-feasibility study to integrate Merlin area for potentially larger scale mining activity is expected to be completed in 2023; and
  • Over US$50 million was spent in the Silicon camp in 2023, including twelve drill rigs.

As disclosed in AngloGold’s Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve Report as at December 31, 2022 [1], the following activities were completed to date on the Silicon project including:

  • Exploration drilling comprised of 262 RC drill holes, 65 DD holes and 40 RC pre-collar/diamond tail for a total of 146,109 metres;
  • Detailed geological mapping at 1:5,000 scale has been completed over a total of 58 square kilometres;
  • Ground geophysics was carried out on the project including a total of 1,307 kilometres of induced polarization/resistivity, ground magnetics and gravity surveys;
  • Geochemical sampling comprising outcrop rock chip sampling and 26 x 2.3 kilometres soil survey was also carried out at various phases of the exploration program; and
  • Drilling program is continuing not infill and further delineate the deposit as well as collect test work material in support of the planned pre-feasibility study.

Other exploration targets are present within the Silicon claim block, including Merlin and Maverick where Merlin is a drilling-stage prospect that is showing potential and is planned to move into project work during 2023.

[1] https://reports.anglogoldashanti.com/22/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/AGA-RR22.pdf

History

On February 20, 2015, Orogen entered into a royalty agreement with Altius Minerals Corp. (“Altius”) whereby Orogen retained 100% ownership of the Silicon property, discovered through an alliance between Orogen and Altius pursuant to an October 22, 2013 alliance agreement, for a 1.5% NSR royalty payable to Altius. AngloGold entered into an agreement with Orogen 2017, whereby the project was optioned to AngloGold to acquire a 100%  interest in the project by paying Orogen a total payment of US$3.0 million by June 21, 2020. On June 3, 2020, AngloGold made the final payment of US$2.4 million to acquire 100%  interest in the Silicon project. Orogen retains of a 1.0% NSR on a defined area of interest on the Silicon project, marked on the map below: 

Downloads

Silicon Factsheet

Silicon Geology

Silicon Geology

Silicon February 2023 Update