Spring Valley gold project in Nevada gets Federal approval

[Ben Graham]

Waterton Mining announced this week that its subsidiary Solidus Resources has received the Record of Decision (ROD) from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), approving its Spring Valley project in Nevada.  

This marks the first Federal approval of a domestic gold mine project in over a decade, the company said, adding that Spring Valley will be the largest independent gold mine in the country.  

Solidus Resources, 100% owned by privately-held Waterton Mining, is focused on advancing the heap leach gold project with Mineral Reserves of 3.8 Moz gold located in Pershing County through permitting, construction, and into operations.  

The Spring Valley Mining District was discovered in 1868 and produced gold, silver, lead, mercury, copper, antimony and pinite.

Modern exploration at Spring Valley began in 1996 by Kennecott Minerals Company, which searched for the source of gold in the Spring Valley placer deposits, according to the company’s website. Subsequent programs were carried out by Echo Bay, Midway and Barrick.

In 2015, Solidus Resources continued with additional exploration and study related activities, which included completion of 232 holes (totaling 190,814 ft), metallurgical testwork campaigns, geotechnical and hydrological modeling, as well as a pre-feasibility study in 2018, when it began the permitting process.

2025 feasibility study

This year, the company released a feasibility outlining a 10-year plus life of mine averaging over 300 koz gold per year, with 348 koz gold per year over the first five years life-of-mine, all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of ~$1,103/oz gold After-tax NPV5% of $1.5B with an after-tax IRR of 36% with economics based on consensus gold price of $2,400/oz in 2028E and $2,200/oz LT from 2029E.

Mineral Resources of 4.4 Moz gold of Indicated resources (inclusive of Reserves) and 0.6 Moz gold of Inferred resources were calculated using a gold price of $1,700/oz and cut-off grade 0.004 oz/ton.

“The Spring Valley Project will be Nevada’s next long-life heap leach gold mine,” Waterton Mining CEO Isser Elishis said in a news release. “The significance of this project will be far-reaching, boosting domestic non-fuel mineral production, creating thousands of high-paying jobs, increasing both local wages and tax revenues significantly, and enhancing U.S. mining competitiveness.” 

In May, Solidus received a Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) regarding the potential financing of up to $835,000 for the Spring Valley project. The funding is being considered under EXIM’s Make More in America initiative and its China and Transformational Exports Program. 

Elishis said the project “supports the onshoring of strategic mineral production, encouraging U.S.-based sourcing of mining technology, and boosting exports of American-manufactured equipment and services.”