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Greenfield projects, United States
In the United States, our greenfield concessions – including the adjacent North Bullfrog and Arthur projects (previously known as Expanded Silicon) – are in the Beatty District in southern Nevada. The project area includes the North Bullfrog, Silicon, Mother Lode, Merlin and Sterling deposits.
In the United States, our greenfield concessions – including the adjacent North Bullfrog and Arthur projects (previously known as Expanded Silicon) – are in the Beatty District in southern Nevada. The project area includes the North Bullfrog, Silicon, Mother Lode, Merlin and Sterling deposits.
Project
ownership
Total Inferred
Mineral Resource
![Stacked rocks [icon]](https://www.anglogoldashanti.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/icon-zen-rocks.svg){kind=icon}
of gold
Mineral Reserve
(North Bullfrog)
of gold
As at the year ended 31 December 2024
Overview and Locality
North Bullfrog
The North Bullfrog project has undergone multiple stage gate reviews and in November 2024 received approval to proceed with detailed engineering design.
Federal and Nevada permitting processes are underway, and the first round of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) public comments were received in April 2024. The public’s comments have been primarily focused on potential impacts to groundwater dependent ecosystems within the upper reaches of the Amargosa River.
The project team is updating an alternative mine plan to consume less water in connection with the project’s progress through the permitting process. The alternative mine plan has reduced anticipated water consumption over the estimated life of mine by more than half.
A Record of Decision from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is anticipated by the end of 2026. As with all permitting processes, the timeline remains subject to regulatory inputs and other factors.
The project is slated to generate an internal rate of return of 15%, assuming a long-term gold price of $1,800/oz. At a long-term gold price of $2,200/oz, the IRR is estimated at 29%. North Bullfrog is currently expected to produce an average of 105,000oz during the first five years and an average of 76,000oz annually over its anticipated 11 years. All-in sustaining costs are forecast at $934/oz over the life of the mine. Project capital is expected to be $476m (nominal).
The North Bullfrog project is expected to be the first of the Nevada operations to enter production. As well as generating initial gold production from the district, it is anticipated to allow AngloGold Ashanti to build a cohesive project development team and improve understanding of the permitting and project construction processes in Nevada.
Arthur Gold Project (formerly the Expanded Silicon Project)
This project comprises the Silicon and Merlin deposits. Successful completion of a concept study at the end of 2023 allowed the project to proceed to a pre-feasibility study focused on the Merlin deposit with the goal of completing the engineering and study work needed to support the development of a mineable Mineral Reserve in the eastern side of the Beatty District. This study is expected to continue throughout 2025 and will include an extensive drilling programme and further optimisation of development options identified in a framing review in 2024.
During 2024, a total of 132km of drilling was completed in the Merlin and Silicon area. Most of the drilling done was part of the Mineral Resource definition programme, with some holes completed to support the hydrogeology and geotechnical programmes.
Exploration success and reinterpretation of the geological model increased the Arthur Gold Project gold Inferred Mineral Resource (as at 31 December 2024) to 12.91 Moz.
