The Mineral Ridge gold deposits occur on the northeast flank of the Silver Peak range of the Silver Peak mining district. The mining district occurs along the Walker Lane structural corridor, a structurally complex region, with the Sierra Batholith to the west and the Basin and Range Province to the east. Within the corridor, Precambrian through Cenozoic age metamorphic, intrusive and sedimentary rocks occur that have been subjected to folding and thrust faulting, low angle extensional deformation, and high-angle faulting.

The precious metal deposits at Mineral Ridge consist of structurally controlled gold mineralization hosted by the lowermost unit of the Wyman Formation. The gold mineralization is invariably associated with quartz impregnations either as:
• Quartz veins and veinlets/stringers in alaskite
• Quartz veins and veinlets/stringers in Wyman Formation limestone
• Quartz veins ranging from about one foot to over 15 ft

Dilation resulting from multiple periods of dip-slip movement along a series of braided extensional faults created the conduits for the multi-stage emplacement of quartz and the attendant gold mineralization. In this sense, the Mineral Ridge deposits are considered to be detachment fault hosted.

The gold bearing quartz impregnations were emplaced along low-angle or bedding plane extensional faults developed in the limestone and alaskite rocks. There are two or more phases of quartz injection but it is apparent that only one phase is associated with the gold mineralization.

The gold mineralization at Mineral Ridge is primarily associated with milky quartz veins and lenses accompanied by local argillization and some sericitization. The individual zones can be as much as 50 ft thick, typically consisting of a higher grade quartz veins from five to 30 ft thick, surrounded by a lower grade envelope of mineralization. Two or more high grade zones are commonly observed stacked in en echelon patterns. Gold deposition is structurally controlled, and some of the highest grade mineralization is found in shoots that are at an oblique angle to the direction of movement of extension.

Gold is present as native gold and electrum that occurs as irregular shaped intergrowths in quartz associated with interstitial space and small fractures. Gold also occurs as irregularly shaped intergrowths and as fracture fillings associated with goethite, much of which was derived from original pyrite. In partially oxidized mineralization, gold occurs with both pyrite and goethite. Gold particle size varies from 1 to 2 microns to about 700 microns, but most of the particles are in the 5 to 50 micron size range, and should not lead to a significant particle nugget effect problem. Gold to silver ratios are typically in the 2:1 range. Because of the small gold particle size and intergrowths with quartz, extensive crushing is needed to allow for the effective cyanide heap leaching of the gold. Locally, minor amounts of galena, sphalerite and anglesite/cerrusite have been observed in the mineralization.

Gold deposits on the Mineral Ridge Property are hosted within a structural envelope in the lower unit of the Wyman Formation near its contact with the crystalline core rocks. Quartz and felsic intrusive boundaries are common in this structural zone. These boundaries are elongate within, and sub-parallel to the direction of extension as a whole and are exposed in outcrop and in the underground workings. Elongate, braided, ductile shear zones surround the boundaries, with these shear zones being preferentially in-filled by milky quartz veining associated with mineralization and the better gold grades. This zone of ductile shearing comprises the structural mineralized envelope, and is internal, and sub-parallel to the limits of the structural slab. Internal to the mineralized envelope, other, smaller-scale fault and fold sets occur, which correspond to higher grade mineralized shoots. Based on mapping of the historical underground stopes within the Mary and Drinkwater deposits, some of the high grade shoots historically exploited by underground methods were localized at the inflection point of small flexures where dilation zones were formed when the limb of the fold steepened. These shoots lie at an angle of 38° to 45° from the horizontal, versus the average 25° angle of the structural zone. It is believed that the highest-grade mineralized shoots are related to a second, perpendicular set of flexures accompanied by normal faulting that intersect the dilation zones.

Mining was suspended in November 2017 as the Company had mined all of its then known mineral reserves, and because it was uneconomical to continue mining as a result of higher strip ratios associated with the remaining known mineral resources.

All the ore stockpile was processed and placed on the leach pad during Q4 of 2017. Gold is still being produced from the material stacked on the leach pad.

In 2014, the Scorpio Gold reported an updated Life of Mine Plan ("LOM Plan") for the Mineral Ridge Operation that included the Drinkwater, Mary, Mary LC, and the five satellite deposits, Brodie, Bluelite, Solberry, Wedge and Oromonte. As of November 2017, the Drinkwater, Bluelite, Solberry, Missouri, Wedge pits had been depleted and mining was suspended.

The mineral deposits at the Project were being mined by conventional open pit mining methods. 100 ton haul trucks loaded by front end loaders or large excavators were delivering approximately
76,000 tons of ore per month to the crusher. A mining contractor was being utilized to perform all mining functions including: blasthole drilling, blasting, loading and hauling, as well as road and pit maintenance functions.

Mining was suspended in November of 2017 and all the ore stockpile was processed and placed on the leach pad during Q4 of 2017. Gold is still being produced from the material stacked on the leach pad.

The current operation at Mineral Ridge Gold (MRG) is a heap leach operation, which uses reactivated carbon to adsorb gold from the pregnant leach solution and produces a gold and silver loaded-activated carbon product from the CIL circuit.

The heap leach pad is permitted for a total of 7.6 Mt of material which allows for stacking the
material up to 190 feet above the liner.

Ore placed on the pad is being irrigated via buried drip tubes which allow for flow rates of 0.0025 gpm/ft.² on side slopes and 0.0040 gpm/ft2 on flat surfaces. Barren solution at an average pH of 10.5 and cyanide level of 0.2 grams/liter flows through the ore and is collected in the pregnant pond via 10 “ perforated lines located on the base liner of the pad. The pregnant leach ........