i-80 Gold’s US$500M Nevada plan: production, capex and risk notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
i-80 Gold has secured a US$500 million package, including a US$250 million life-of-mine NSR royalty sale to Franco-Nevada (1.5%, rising to 3% from 2031) and a US$150 million gold prepay facility with National Bank and Macquarie plus a US$100 million accordion, to fund its Nevada growth plan and clear roughly US$175 million of debt. The financing is expected to fully fund Phase 1 and Phase 2, ramping Granite Creek, advancing Archimedes, and expanding Cove underground and the Granite Creek open pit to lift output from ~50,000 oz/year to 300,000–400,000 oz/year by 2031. Longer term, i-80 aims to develop the Mineral Point oxide heap leach project, which has 4.6 million oz Au-eq (measured and indicated) and a PEA outlining a 17-year life at 282,000 oz Au-eq/year, targeting total production of 600,000 oz/year across four Nevada operations.
Technical Brief
- Royalty deal grants Franco-Nevada a 1.5% NSR on all i-80 properties, doubling to 3% from 2031.
- Of the US$250 million royalty, US$225 million is payable at closing targeted for March 2026.
- Remaining US$25 million royalty tranche is earmarked for Mineral Point advancement post-early-stage permitting later in 2026.
- Gold prepay with National Bank and Macquarie provides an initial US$150 million, plus a US$100 million accordion.
Our Take
With Mineral Point carrying 4.6 Moz Au-eq in measured and indicated resources over a 17-year mine life, i-80 Gold’s Nevada plan sits at the larger, longer-life end of the single-asset gold stories in our database, which may help justify the layered royalty and prepay structures with Franco-Nevada and the banks.
The gold prepay facility capturing roughly 15% of output between 2028 and mid-2030 effectively front-loads cash flow from Granite Creek, Cove and Mineral Point, which is likely to constrain future hedging flexibility but materially de-risks build-out capex in Phase 1 to 2029.
Extinguishing about $175 million of existing debt as part of this financing package positions i-80 Gold differently from other US gold developers like Liberty Gold at Black Pine (Idaho), which in our coverage are still largely in resource-growth mode rather than balance-sheet restructuring and multi-asset build-out.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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