Hugh Agro, CEO of Revival Gold, leads a site visit at the Mercur project in Utah.Credit: Henry Lazenby
New drill results from Revival Gold’s (TSXV: RVG) Mercur project in Utah boost resource expansion potential beyond this year’s preliminary economic assessment, the company said.
Highlight hole RM25-117 cut 44.2 metres grading 1.4 grams gold per tonne from 33.5 metres depth; while hole RM25-120 returned 24.4 metres at 1 gram gold from 67 metres depth, Revival reported on Monday.
“This year’s drilling at Mercur continues to align with the project’s PEA results and we are seeing strong indications of exploration upside beyond the current mine plan,” Revival CEO Hugh Agro said in a release.
“Mercur is a shallow oxide deposit, with a strike of about 4 kilometers in the Main Mercur area alone. Shallow depths and broad deposit extent translate into lower extraction costs and meaningful mine plan expansion potential.”
10-year operation
The results confirm this year’s PEA’s grade estimates. The study outlined an open-pit, heap-leach operation for Mercur that could produce about 95,600 oz. gold annually over 10 years. It shows Mercur with a post-tax net present value of $295 million at a gold price of $2,175 per oz. and at all-in sustaining costs of $1,363 per ounce. Mercur sits on a past-producing site, where Barrick Mining (TSX: ABX; NYSE: B) and others mined gold from 1982 to 1997.
Projects like Mercur “offer investors significant upside exposure,” CEO Agro said, noting that the PEA pegged Mercur’s gold price at $2,175 per oz. while the consensus long term gold price is around $3,000 per ounce.
1.3M ounces
Mercur hosts 35.3 million indicated tonnes grading 0.66 gram gold for 746,000 contained oz.; and 36.2 million inferred tonnes at 0.54 gram gold for 626,000 contained ounces. The PEA upgraded the resource to indicated from inferred-only in a 2023 estimate.
Other highlight holes include drill hole RMC25-017 that returned about 13 metres grading 1.7 grams gold from 50 metres depth, and RM25-113 that cut 24.4 metres at 0.9 gram gold 56.4 metres depth.
The results are from 10,000 metres completed so far this year of Revival’s 13,000-metre program for Mercur. Three rigs are drilling at Mercur and one at its Beartrack-Arnett project in Idaho.
Revival plans to complete a pre-feasibility study for Mercur next year, secure state permits by mid-2027 and then make its construction decision.
Company shares were flat at C$0.65 apiece on Monday morning in Toronto, for a market capitalization of C$177.1 million.