VISTA UNDERGROUND

Vista Underground – The Twin Creeks Complex First Underground Project

SMD started an exploration drift, originally known as Vista, at Twin Creeks in 2011. After a short period of underground drilling, we continued exploration drifting in 2012 and 2013. We completed some test stoping in 2016 and Newmont reached a production decision in 2017. We mobilized in July 2017 to advance development and begin production mining. The Vista Project is now part of the Nevada Gold Mines JV between Barrick and Newmont.

Total development drifting at the end of 2020 is 46,000 feet and we have mined about 1,300,000 tons of ore and placed 1,000,000 tons of backfill – both CRF and gob. The ore at Vista typically dips at 60 to 65 degrees and averages about 8 feet in width. The ore is being mined via longhole open stopes; however, panel lengths are typically kept to 25’ to ensure the hanging wall does not fail.