Hycroft Mine

The Hycroft Mine is located east of Sulphur. Formerly, the Hycroft Mine was known as the Sulphur Mine.

Allied Mining restarted operation of the mine in 2008.

Price (2008) state that Allied Nevada Gold drilled the area.

Wilson (2010) include a photo of the area and describes the plans to mine the area.

The BLM (2012) approval of expansion of the mine included stipulations.

In July, 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that Allied Nevada was considering selling a stake of itself or the mine. At the time, the expansion was expected to cost as much as $1.3 billion.

In April, 2016, Hycroft updated its plans after emerging from bankruptcy.

History

The 2012 BLM Draft Environmental Impact statement provides a history, reproduced below:

"Mining activities in the vicinity of the Hycroft Mine began in 1875 with the discovery of sulfur. Over 200,000 tons of sulfur was produced by underground mining methods from the 1870s through the early 1950s. Small amounts of silver, potash, and mercury were also produced during the early 1900s. In the late 1970s, Homestake Mining Company conducted exploration drilling on claims controlled by the Crofoot family and delineated a small tonnage, bulk-mineable gold deposit near the north end of the existing Project Area along one of the main faults in the area, the Central Fault."

"In 1984 Standard Slag Corporation constructed the Lewis Mine, a small (4,000,000ton) heap leach operation, on patented and unpatented lands leased from Mr. Frank Lewis. The ore processed at the Lewis facility was mined from the northern end of the Central Fault. In 1985, HRDI acquired the Crofoot claim block, and in 1987, procured the Lewis facility and leases from Standard Slag Corporation. Processing activities at the Lewis Mine were terminated in September 1993 and the Lewis site has since been closed. The Crofoot processing facility was constructed by HRDI and began precious metal production in October 1987. The bulk of the ore (66 million tons) hauled to the Crofoot leach pads originated at the Central Fault open pit complex, which included the Bay Area, South Central, Boneyard, Gap, and Cut4 open pits."

"In 1997 and early 1998, an additional five million tons of runoff mine material were transported from the Brimstone deposit, an ore body located on another main fault in the area, the East fault, to the Crofoot site. This was the last ore to be placed on the Crofoot heap leach pads. The balance of the ore from the Brimstone deposit went to the Brimstone heap leach pad and plant adjacent to the Brimstone open pit. The Hycroft Mine was placed in a care and maintenance program in late 1998 due to the decrease in gold prices below $300 per ounce. The process operations continued until 2004 when the process facilities were placed in care and maintenance."

"In 2007 HRDI become a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Nevada Gold Corporation and reactivated open pit mining in the third quarter of 2008. The existing Hycroft Mine is an open pit, heap leach gold and silver mine (NVN064641). Current operations at the Hycroft Mine include ore extraction and processing, management of water, engineering and environmental studies, permit compliance, and exploration."

See Also

• Silver Camel Mine: Now part of the Hycroft Mine.
• Sulphur Mining District: Historical references for the area.

Resources

• David Valentine, "Ask Not for whom the Toll Bills," p. 12-17, In Situ, Newsletter of the Nevada Archaeological Association, Winter, 2002. Excellent history of the area.
• Daniel E. Russell, "The Rabbit Hole Sulphur Mines, Humboldt County, Nevada," 2008. Excellent history of the area.