McEwen and Iconic Minerals initiate Nevada gold joint venture

New Pass has an inferred gold equivalent resource of 341,750 ounces

Rowan Dunne

Published

2 hours ago

Iconic Minerals Ltd (CVE: ICM) (OTCMKTS: ICMFF) (FRA: YQG) has formed a joint venture with McEwen Inc (TSE: MUX) (NYSE: MUX) (FRA: US8) to explore and potentially develop the New Pass gold property in Nevada.

The agreement, announced on Wednesday, creates equal 50-50 ownership of the 2,140-hectare site in Churchill County. Iconic takes the lead on early-stage operations while both partners fund exploration costs according to their stakes through a joint management committee.

The deal formalizes earlier option arrangements and immediately launches a targeted drilling campaign. Workers will sink 20 to 30 holes at first, with the option to reach as many as 38 reverse-circulation holes overall. Drills will pursue extensions of a well-known Carlin-type gold system that already hosts an inferred resource of about 342,000 gold-equivalent ounces.

Most of that metal sits near the surface in oxide material that stays open along strike and at depth. Recent geophysical surveys combined with historical drill data are steering the program toward northern, southern and up-dip targets where gold mineralization reaches the surface.

The work aims to enlarge the resource and prepare the way for an updated technical report.

McEwen’s latest mining portfolio addition

This latest partnership contributes to McEwen’s broader collection of assets and its plans for growth.

It adds to the company’s 49-per cent stake in the San Jose mine in Argentina, where production should deliver around 59,000 gold-equivalent ounces in 2026. This joint venture operation, Minera Santa Cruz SA, operates through a partnership with Hochschild Mining Plc (LON: HOC) (OTCMKTS: HCHDF) (FRA: H3M).

The New Pass project also expands McEwen’s Nevada holdings next to the Gold Bar complex and the Jewel Ridge ground the company recently consolidated by acquiring Golden Lake Exploration Inc (CNSX: GLM) (OTCMKTS: GOLXF).

At the same time, McEwen keeps building positions in other opportunities, including through the takeover of Canadian Gold Corp (CVE: CGC) (OTCMKTS: STRRF) (FRA: 8S8), completed in January.

The latest joint venture with Iconic sharpens McEwen’s expansion strategy by blending promising exploration with existing cash-flow assets.

High precious metal pricing propels Nevada prospecting

The New Pass initiative arrives at an opportune time as high gold prices have become a strong catalyst for junior exploration across Nevada. Spot prices hover near US$4,800 an ounce, giving smaller companies the capital and courage to drill hard and form alliances that share risk.

The rally revives Carlin-type prospects that looked marginal only a few years ago. NevGold Corp (CVE: NAU) (OTCMKTS: NAUFF) (FRA: 5E50), for example, has been seizing the opportunity by evaluating historic leach pads and new gold-antimony zones at Limousine Butte, where it expects to release a maiden resource estimate by the end of the year.

Additionally, Nevada King Gold Corp (CVE: NKG) (OTCMKTS: NKGFF) has been advancing multi-phase programs at the Atlanta project and West Point Gold Corp (CVE: WPG) (OTCMKTS: WPGCF) (FRA: LRA0) is ramping up activity on several other Nevada claims.