Hobbies And Interests
Carlin Trend
Newmont Mining Corp. has operated its Carlin Trend mine complex in eastern Nevada since 1965. The Carlin operations include 13 open-pit mines and four underground mines, including the Twin Creeks Mine, which produced 437,830 oz. of gold in 2009, and the Phoenix project, which yielded 218,732 oz. of gold in 2009. Newmont uses several processing methods at the site, depending on ore quality. Carlin employed more than 3,000 workers in 2009 and took up nearly 5,000 square miles along Interstate 80. Carlin's mines had 33.3 million oz. in gold reserves at the time of publication.
Betze-Post and Meikle Mines
Barrick Goldstrike Mines runs these two projects in northeast Nevada. Together, the two mines employed nearly 1,800 people and produced 1.3 million oz. of gold in 2009. The larger Betze-Post is an open-pit mine, while the Meikle operation is underground. The mines process gold with the high heat and pressure of autoclaves, and roasters that burn away rock and dirt with heat and air. The Goldstrike complex claimed gold reserves of 12.6 million oz. in December 2010.
Cortez Hills and Pipeline Mines
These open-pit mines in north-central Nevada put out 517,512 oz. of gold in 2009, using more than 1,000 employees and contractors. Barrick Cortez owns the projects, which process ore with methods including cyanide leaching and milling, or crushing the rock and extracting the gold. The mines had probable gold reserves of 14.5 million oz. in December 2010.
Smoky Valley Common Operation
Round Mountain Gold Corp. owns this central Nevada mine, which had nearly 700 employees and yielded 414,941 oz. of gold in 2009. Smoky Valley is one of Nevada's oldest continually operating gold projects: Underground mining began in 1906, with open-pit mining following in 1976. The mine extracts gold through a milling and crushing process. It hit the 10 million oz. production mark in 2006.
Turquoise Ridge
This northeast Nevada mine employed 318 people and produced 177,333 oz. of gold in 2009. The joint venture of Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Mining Corp. had 4.2 million oz. in probable gold reserves as of December 2010. The companies extract ore through the cut-and-fill technique, removing rock in horizontal layers from the top and filling the mined areas with mineral-processing waste.
Marigold Mine
Goldcorp Inc.'s Marigold operation in northwest Nevada runs three miles in length and yielded 146,842 oz. of gold in 2009. The aboveground, open-pit mine started operating in 1988, and had more than 300 employees and contractors in 2009. It processes gold using heap-leach methods, through which a cyanide solution is poured over ore to extract the precious metal. In 2006, the mine became the first in the world certified as fully compliant with the International Cyanide Management Code. Goldcorp estimated at the time of publication that Marigold had a remaining life of 11 years, with nearly 1.6 million oz. in reserves.