Nevada Division of Minerals

NEVADA MINERAL PRODUCTION NEW MINES, EXPLORATION, CRITICAL MINERALS,

TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS

VISION 2020: College of Business, UNR Peppermill, Reno

January 31, 2020 Richard Perry, Administrator

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Nevada Gold

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2018 NEVADA METAL PRODUCTION 2018 NEVADA METAL PRODUCTION, BY PRODUCER - FinalRanked by gold productionOperator Gold (ozs) Silver (ozs) Copper (lbs) Moly (lbs)Barrick 2,425,512 105,360Newmont 1,808,484 1,107,493 32,102,979Kinross 660,100 820,042SSR Mining 205,161 4,315Jerritt Canyon Gold 145,064 NRHecla (Klondex) 109,614 516,312Coeur 54,668 5,037,983Florida Canyon Mining (Alio Gold) 46,878 31,775KGHM International 38,990 171,679 112,552,787 459,959Fiore Gold 37,403 NRPremier Gold (40% of S. Arturo) 20,980 NRRawhide Mining 15,444 208,875Mineral Ridge Gold 7,497 3,444Ruby Hill Mining 4,648 3,584Borealis Mining 420 394Sunrise Minerals 268 150Geo-Nevada 14 NRNew Gold Nevada 14 2

Totals 5,581,160 8,011,408 144,655,766 459,959

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New Operation for 2019, #1: McEwen Mining – Gold Bar

Groundbreaking – November 2017 First gold pour – February 2019 Full Production achieved May, 2019 Production target – 60,000 Au oz/yr Avg. Au grade - 1.0 g/t Current mine life – 7 years

New Operation for 2019, #2: Gold Resource Corp. – Isabella Pearl

Groundbreaking – June 2018 First gold pour – April 2019 Production target – 40,000 Au oz/yr Avg. Au grade - 3.7 g/t Current mine life – 5 years

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2009 - 2018 Annual Gold Production in Nevada

9% 24%

BARRICK

NEWMONT

ALL OTHERS

NEVADA GOLD MINES

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Nevada silver

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2018 Production 8.02 Moz, -5.4% vs. '17 22 mining operations 14 operators

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Nevada copper

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144.7M lbs, -0.8% vs. '17 2 mining operations

• First Concentrate Production was in December 2019 • 5,000 tpd underground mine and surface process plant. • Employs ~ 300 people • At least 2 other deposits being explored in the District

New Operation for 2019: Nevada Copper – Pumpkin Hollow, Yerington District

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2018 405,500 tons shipped + 4% vs. '17 4 producers

Halliburton, Baker-Hughes and NOV permitting new projects and expansions

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Nevada Limestone Production 1991-2018

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Nevada Diatomaceous Earth Production 4 producers 399,358 tons +44% vs ‘17

Other Industrial Minerals Produced in 2018

• 12,900,000 lbs of lithium compounds • 716,000 tons of silica sand • 348,600 tons of magnesite • 19,900 tons of salt • 17,087 tons of perlite

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Lithium Clay Projects Exploration regulations same as hard-rock Notice or plan-level under BLM No permitting of boreholes needed as no water pumped

Mine permitting same as any mining project On Federal lands, BLM or USFS lead agency On Private lands, NDEP-BMRR is lead agency

Two projects have completed PFS reports which include metallurgical studies and proposed flowsheets: Lithium Americas - Thacker Pass Project in Humboldt County Ioneer Ltd. - Rhyolite Ridge Project in Esmeralda County

Lithium Americas – Thacker Pass Project

Lithium Americas – Thacker Pass Project

Reserves – 3.1M tonnes LCE at 2,358 ppm Li

Strip ratio – 1.6:1

Mine life – 46 years

Processing time - <24 hours

Lithium recovery – 83%

Pilot plant operational in Reno

Final Mine PoO submitted

Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge Project

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Unpatented Mining Claims By Year in Nevada

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October 2014 October 2015 October 2016 October 2017

NDOM has been gathering active claim data from LR2000 at the end of October for the last six years. The purpose of this graph is to show claims data and statistics from the same snapshot in time.

Li = 2.1% Li = 0.7%

10,524

October 2018

13,228

Li = 0.8%

October 2019

9,298

Assessment Year

195,804 Active Mining Claims (Assessment

Year 2020) in Nevada as of 10/28/2019, and

increase of 1.1% from October, 2018

2019 Exploration Outlook

About the Same 34%

Less 9%

Much Less 10%

More 33%

Much More 14%

RESPONSES TO THE QUESTION: COMPARED TO 2018, DO YOU EXPECT YOUR COMPANY TO SPEND MORE OR LESS IN 2019 ON NEVADA EXPLORATION?

“Exploration is the R & D of the Minerals Industry”

TRENDS • Metals mining is increasingly underground.

• > 30 percent of gold produced from underground

• Copper is now #2 in gross value, increasing • limitation is lack of downstream smelting and refining

• Industrial Mineral production increasing • easier to permit and put into operation in Nevada,

markets in CA and other neighboring states

• Consolidation of the two major miners: Barrick and Newmont, into “Nevada Gold Mines” JV

• to capture synergies in ore hauling and processing • Overall G&A expenses reduced with one operating

entity

• Increased use of autonomous equipment

Fluid Mineral Resources • Geothermal well

permitting and compliance NRS 534A

• Oil and gas well permitting and compliance NRS 522

• Dissolved Mineral

Resource Exploration well and borehole permitting NRS 534B

Ormat Geodrill #1 at Tungsten Mtn, 2018

Geothermal Operators There are currently 17

geothermal fields in Nevada being operated by 5 operators: Ormat Nevada: Steamboat,

McGinness Hills, Brady, Desert Peak, Wild Rose (Don Campbell), Jersey Valley, Tuscarora, Tungsten Mountain and San Emidio

Terra-Gen: Dixie Valley and

Beowawe Cyrq Energy: Soda Lake, Patua, Blue

Mtn Enel North America: Stillwater and

Salt Wells Star Peak Geothermal: Wabuska

458 permitted wells 60% on private property >513,832 acres in authorized

BLM leases From: NBMG MI-2017

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Nevada Mineral and Energy Production Values 1978 - 2018

Other

Petroleum

Gypsum

Barite

Geothermal

Silver

Aggregate

Copper

Gold

$8.4 Billion in 2018, same as 2017

Critical Minerals Exploration 2017 Executive Order 13817: A

Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals.

35 minerals identified as “Critical Minerals” by D.O.I. in May, 2018.

Minerals selected are deemed “vital to the Nation's security and economic prosperity.”

Nevada contains known occurrences or deposits of 20 of the 35 critical minerals 2

NV is a current producer of: barite, lithium, magnesium

Exploration for cobalt, graphite, REE, Tungsten, Vanadium in progress.

1Tingley, Joseph V. (1998). NBMG Report 47, Mining districts of Nevada (second edition) 2 Martin, Gary. “Mining of 20 ‘critical’ minerals in Nevada could be streamlined”, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 21 May, 2018. Accessed 9 August, 2019.

Figure 1:

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2020 MINERALS PREDICTIONS • Gold will remain #1 commodity produced, but copper

production will increase. • Commodity prices drive exploration and production.

Au, Ag, Cu, Li prices set on global markets.

• If one or more Li clay projects progresses, NV will produce >10% of world production, expect vertical integration with a cathode plant built in NV.

• Availability of Venture Capital - Nevada competes on

a global stage for capital investment in exploration and new mines.

MINERALS PREDICTIONS • Most industrial mineral producers sensitive to

construction industry, general economy (gypsum, aggregate, limestone, etc.)

• Nevada rated #1 in “overall investment attractiveness

index” in 2019 Fraser Institute annual survey of mining jurisdictions. Changes in the mining law, taxation, or permitting times can negatively affect this.

• Fluid Minerals – steady increase in geothermal power

production, very little oil exploration at current prices, possibly another Li brine producer.

Nevada Mining In 2019 Nevada Mining provided

32,976 Nevada Jobs.

$2.6 Billion in total paid salary

• 20+ minerals are produced in Nevada at over 100 mines

• 5th leading producer of GOLD in the WORLD!

• The mining industry has an overall low injury rate and high safety record

Nevada produced 10% of all U.S. mineral production

Mines operate on less than ¼ of 1% of

Nevada’s 70,798,080 acres $12.4 billion

impact to Nevada’s economy,

3.1% of it’s GDP

Source: Nevada Mining Association

Publications

www.minerals.nv.gov