Allied Nevada plans expansion of production at Hycroft Mine

Allied Nevada Gold Corp., which earned $3.7 million in the first quarter from a mine 54 miles west of Winnemucca, plans to step up production at the facility.

The Reno-based company said last week it's moving ahead with a plan to triple production at the Hycroft Mine.

The expanded production would bring peak production to more than 300,000 ounces of gold a year in 2013 and 2014, compared with production of approximately 100,000 ounces during 2010.

Scott Caldwell, president and chief executive officer of Allied Nevada, said the company has begun talking with suppliers of larger trucks and other mining equipment needed for the expansion. The company also will need regulatory approval.

In the first quarter of this year, the Hycroft Mine produced 22,700 ounces of gold and 53,500 ounces of silver.

Production costs averaged $387 per ounce of gold, below the company's earlier projection of $400 an ounce. The company sold gold at an average price of $1,108 during the quarter.

"Things are starting to fire on all cylinders," Caldwell told investment analysts last week.

Publicly held Allied Nevada brought the mine back into production in 2009 after it had been closed for more than a decade. The $3.7 million profit during the first quarter compares with a loss of $7.6 million in the first quarter of 2009, when the mine was coming back on line.