Kinross Gold Submits Exploration Plan of Operations for Riley Gold's PWC Project (Cortez District - Nevada)
Kinross-backed Nevada explorer moves to permit 500 drill sites as Carlin-type signatures expand at PWC.
The most recent news (March 18, 2026) announces that Kinross Gold, acting as the operator of the Pipeline West/Clipper (PWC) project, is submitting an Exploration Plan of Operations (EPO). This EPO covers a 14 square kilometer area and seeks permits for up to 500 drill sites. This follows a series of positive technical milestones, including a February 2026 soil survey that extended the gold-in-soil anomaly to 6km and November 2025 drill results that confirmed Carlin-type hydrothermal fluid leakage and disseminated gold in the lower plate carbonate rocks (e.g., 4.26m of 1.33 g/t Au in hole PW25-03).
The news is Routine - Positive. While the scale of the EPO (500 drill sites) is ambitious and indicates Kinross’s long-term commitment to the project, it is a logical and expected regulatory step following the successful 2025 framework drilling and geochemical surveys. - Scale of Commitment: Requesting 500 sites suggests Kinross views PWC as a multi-year, systematic exploration target rather than a "one-and-done" prospect. - De-risking: The transition from small-scale permitting to an EPO allows for more aggressive, iterative drilling without needing constant new permits for every hole. - Validation: Having a major like Kinross (9.9% owner and earning 75%) handle the permitting and costs significantly reduces the financial burden on Riley Gold, which has a modest cash balance.
Riley Gold is a Nevada-focused explorer. Its flagship is the Pipeline West/Clipper (PWC) Project, located in the Cortez District, adjoining Nevada Gold Mines’ (Barrick/Newmont) Pipeline complex. The project targets Carlin-type gold deposits. In 2025, the company relinquished its Tokop project to focus resources and preserve cash, effectively making Riley a "one-asset" bet on PWC.