Made in Nevada: Comstock Mining Company

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev. (KOLO) – Gold prices have reached all-time historic highs. As of November 7, 2024, an ounce has sold for over $2,700.

For perspective, the price of an ounce of gold in 1970 remained below $40. In 1990, the price jumped to more than $400, and by 2010 the price had reached more than $1,400, according to Kenny G & Company Fine Jewelry General Manager at Renault, Sean Doran.

This Nevada-made report showcases Comstock Mining and what are likely to be historic profits as it prepares to discover what remains of the silver and gold left behind by 19th century miners.

Comstock mining The 12 square miles of property are combined with thousands of mineral claims extending over six miles from Virginia City at the summit of Mount Davidson south to Interstate 50.

It mined the area from 2012 to 2015, but took a short hiatus partly to get a better understanding of where the gold and silver are underground, and at this pace mining could resume mining operations in 2026 or 2027.

Beneath the mountains in the Virginia City area lies an estimated $1.8 billion in gold and $250 million in silver. It was abandoned by miners at the Comstock Lode in the 19th century because the technology for extracting the remaining precious metals had not yet developed.

“You know you’re talking about 300,000 to 400,000 ounces of gold. You’re talking about millions of ounces of silver. That’s the small portion that we’ve actually measured. That’s less than 10 percent of our property situation. What’s in the Comstock? Oh, my God.” “I can’t I can imagine,” said Comstock Inc. CEO and CEO Corrado De Gasperis.

Comstock Metals will use a process called cyanide heap leaching to extract the precious metals.

The machines will drill rocks with trace amounts of gold and silver and break them down to about one inch in diameter.

“They’re not that loud, but you won’t hear them depending on where they are here,” De Gasperis said.

Then place them in a stack within the installation area and on a waterproof base.

Gold and silver are extracted by pouring a cyanide formulation onto crushed rock.

“And what you do is you create a hair net, an irrigation system over the plate, and then you just drip the solution through the plate that attaches itself to any gold or silver,” De Gasperis said.

It is then further processed to extract the gold and silver from the mixture.

Some local residents worry that the process may pollute the land.

Dr. John Whitney is President and CEO of Itronix. His company cleans up waste left by mines.

“Is there any potential problem for people who might live on this land after it is mined this way?” asked KOLO 8 news anchor Noah Bond.

“There shouldn’t be any,” Dr. Whitney.

“The cyanide-containing water is there,” he continued, “so it can’t go anywhere.”

He says the only potential danger during a mining operation is if flash floods cause the cyanide mixture to overflow into the basin.

“In the absence of this disaster, a flash flood? A flash flood is basically very safe. The state of Nevada requires us to build not only the holding capacity, but event basins that are built so that a 100-year event is covered, and by the way, we had an event It was 100 years old in 2017, so we were good to go,” De Gasperis said.

Dr. Whitney says he would feel safe living next to a mine with cyanide leaching, but admits the view and view would not be as good.

This would not be a problem for the public because the processing area is an isolated mountain valley area called American Flat.

There is another potential problem. Historically, this style of mining is known to leave large holes in the ground. De Gasperis says his vision is to fill the open pits, level the ground, and build on top.

“It could be an industrial complex. It could be a residential complex. There’s probably some balance between the two, so we’re looking to spread out productive uses for this whole area. It will retain its historic character, but we have visions of clean energy, so there are geothermal ointments here. There’s also Incredible amount of sunshine that we’re used to in Nevada so we’re going to talk about clean energy infrastructure.

He says he has a proven track record of restoring land.

In 2016, excessive water runoff weakened an old mine shaft beneath State Route 342 that connects Virginia City to Silver City. The road began to fail.

De Gasperins says his engineers extracted 300 tons of contaminated material and sealed the shaft with rebar and cement.

“It cost us about $6 million to clear the road, remove all that contaminated material, and close the shaft,” De Gasperis says.

It then cost another $3 million to rebuild the road to standards and specifications.

“What was shocking was that there was $9 million worth of gold and silver trapped in this ancient amalgam,” De Gasperis said.

Comstock Metals was able to process all of that material

“And it’s amazing that we’ve gotten incredible recognition. “The state of Nevada, I think it was five or six regulatory agencies that gave us the Reclamation Excellence Award in 2017. I think it was for this exercise, and then the federal government also gave us national recognition for one of the best reclamation projects. “De Gasperis.

Comstock Mining Awards include:

2014 – First Place, Mine Operator Safety – Nevada Mining

2015 – Excellence in Mine Reclamation – BLM/USFS

2016 – 1st Place, Mine Operator Safety – Nevada Mining

2017 – Excellence in Mine Reclamation – BLM/USFS

2018 – “Fix the Pole Today” -DOI/BLM

Comstock Metals Community Relations Manager Alexia Sober says her company is also responsible for restoring Keystone’s historic mining pit and the Upper Yellow Jacket. It was a disaster involving a fire in the 1870s.

“We’ve been able to maintain the look and feel of Comstock. We’re not just a business for economic profit. We’re a business that looks to sustainability,” said Nevada Comstock Inc. Community Relations Director Alexia Sober.

Comstock Inc. is traded. On the New York Stock Exchange under letters Loud. Comstock Metals is a subsidiary of Comstock Corporation.

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