The Genesis Project is located within the Basin and Range Province, a region that extends over most of Nevada and portions of adjoining states. Range-front faulting has created north-south trending fault-block mountain ranges separated by broad valley fill with unconsolidated sediment. The Carlin Trend is a north-northwest alignment of predominantly carbonatehosted gold deposits. Regional folding and thrusting placed siliceous (upper plate) rocks over carbonate (lower plate) rocks. The primary thrust surface in the area is referred to as the Roberts Mountain Thrust. The Gen Fault bisects the Genesis Project area and separates the eastern carbonate assemblage from the western siliceous assemblage.

Lower plate rocks are exposed by a combination of folding and high-angle faulting. The Genesis deposit is located within the hinge zone of the Tuscarora anticline, while the Bluestar and Bobcat deposits occur in the west and the Beast/Sold deposits on the east limb of the same anticline. Numerous dikes and sills are emplaced along bedding planes, low-angle faults, and high-angle faults. The northern portion of the Genesis deposit was intruded by the Goldstrike diorite-granodiorite sill complex.

The western part of the Project area consists primarily of eastern assemblage carbonate rocks from the Roberts Mountains, Popovich, and Rodeo Creek formations. Siliceous rocks from the Vinini Formation comprise most of the eastern part of the Project area. Sedimentary rocks in the Genesis Pit have been cut by the Gen Fault, with siliceous Vinini Formation on the east side of the fault, and carbonate Popovich and Roberts Mountains formations on the west side.

Dominant alteration associated with mineralization within the carbonates is decalcification with accompanying minor silicification, clay alteration, and quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration. Sulfide deposition accompanied these alteration events.

The Genesis project consists of Beast, Bluestar Ridge, Bobcat, Genesis, Payraise, and West Genesis. The plan is to re-start open pit mining in the area. The Genesis pit, now called Silverstar, is permitted for 650 million tons to be mined. The expansion will start in the old Genesis pit, which has a reserve of 3,000,000 ounces, and progress to West Genesis (now Goldstar) in 2014 or 2015, then to Bobcat (now Bobstar), and finally to Bluestar Ridge. The project also involves back-filling the Blue Star and Beast pits.

Approximately 450 million tons (Mt) of waste rock would be removed to extract 60Mt of ore over a twelve-year operational life. Approximately 48.3Mt of oxide leach ore would be placed on the existing North Area Leach Facility and 11.7Mt of mill and refractory ore would be hauled to Mill 5/6 in the South Operations Area.

The majority of the underground ore as well as higher-grade surface refractory ores are processed through the roaster (Mill 6), which consists of a grinding circuit, roasting circuit and a conventional carbon-in leach circuit. Mill 6 processed approximately 3.4 million tons of ore in 2016. Higher-grade surface oxide ores are processed by conventional milling and cyanide leaching at Mill 5. Additionally, Mill 5 operates as a flotation mill treating lower grade, non-carbonaceous, sulfidic refractory ore to produce a gold/pyrite concentrate. Mill 5 processed approximately 5 million tons of ore in 2016. Lower-grade surface material with suitable cyanide solubility is treated on one of four heap leach pads.

The circuits at the South Area include Mill 5, Mill 6, and two heap leach pads served by a single plant. Mill 5 is a pyrite floatation plant that processes sulfide and oxide ores that are ground in a sag mill and ball mills. The material is then sent to the floatation circuit where the sulfides are floated and dried for later processing in the autoclave or roaster. The oxide material remaining after floatation is sent to a set of carbon-in-leach (CIL) tanks for gold recovery. Mill 6 consists of a double rotating mill and a roaster; sulfide material is fed to the roaster where the sulfides are volatilized. Material leaving the roaster is sent to a set of CIL tanks at Mill 5 for processing. Tailings from both CIL circuits is combined and sent through a Caro’s Acid cyanide destruction circuit before disposal in the Mill 5/6 TSF. Gold-bearing solution from the SAL (i.e., Property and Non-Property Pads) drains to a series of pregnant ponds. Solutions from the pregnant ponds are pumped via pipeline to carbon-in column (CIC) circuits at South Area plant. Loaded carbon is transferred to the carbon handling facility and refinery for further processing.

The circuits at the North Area include a heap leach pad and plant. The gold-bearing solution from the North Area Leach drains to a series of pregnant ponds. Solutions from the pregnant ponds are pumped via pipeline to CIC circuits at the North Area plant. Loaded carbon is transferred to the carbon handling facility at the South Area and refinery for further processing.