The deposits at the Wind Mountain project and other occurrences of gold-silver mineralization in the Walker Lane and Northern Nevada (e.g., Round Mountain, Midas, Hycroft, Hog Ranch) have long been considered examples of epithermal precious-metal deposits that are classified as the “low-sulfidation” type. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MINERALIZATION OF WIND MOUNTAIN DEPOSITS Mineralization at the Wind Mountain project is characterized by low-grade gold (>~0.005oz Au/ton) with variable silver hosted by sinter and silicified volcaniclastic material. The silver to gold ratio is variable but averages approximately 30:1. Precious metals typically are accompanied by arsenic (20-175ppm As), antimony (20-175ppm Sb), mercury (1-10ppm Hg), selenium (20-180ppm Se) and molybdenum (1-5ppm Mo), which increase in abundance with increasing gold grades. Base metals are locally enriched in the deepest drill holes. The highest molybdenum values (>100ppm Mo) coincide with elevated rhenium (to 0.2ppm Re) in a few deep intercepts, possibly indicative of a felsic intrusion at depth (Crist, et al., 2016). Continuity of gold mineralization within the Wind Mountain deposits is good at grades in the range of 0.005 to 0.015oz Au/ton. Higher-grade zones occur in generally flat-lying pods up to 1,000ft long by 300ft wide and 100ft thick within lower-grade mineralization. Gold occurrences continue sporadically for thousands of feet beyond the known mined deposits, and present opportunities for further expl ........

The Breeze and Wind deposits anticipate mining using conventional open pit truck and loader methods. This assessment assumes that waste material would be loaded into 70-ton haul trucks and hauled to waste rock facilities. Leach material would be mined from the pit and placed on a heap leach pad for leaching of gold and silver.

PIT DESIGNS
The Breeze and Wind pits were designed as individual pits with no phasing.

A bench height of 20ft was used to reflect the block model bench height and the reach of equipment to be used in mining. This bench height will provide for reasonable selectivity during mining.

While no definitive geotechnical study has been provided to RESPEC, it is evident that slopes of near 50º are possible based on observations of current pits. However, RESPEC has designed pits targeting an overall angle of 45º until such time that geotechnical studies can be completed.

Pit slopes use definition of height between catch benches, bench face angle, and catch bench width. Ore and most waste material will be mined on 20ft benches. Every other bench will have a catch bench 21ft wide. A bench face angle of 65º has been assumed, providing an inner-ramp slope of 45º.

In-pit ramps and haul roads were designed to allow safe operation of haul trucks while allowing for twoway traffic. A ramp width of 75ft was used in the pit and allows for 3.5 times the running width of a 775F CAT truck and a safety berm of 13.17ft. ........

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