Viva Gold Corp. (TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF) has released a project update confirming simultaneous progress on its Pre-Feasibility Study, environmental permitting baseline work, and follow-up drilling at the Midway Hills discovery at its 100%-owned Tonopah Gold Project in western Nevada. The company states the PFS remains on schedule for completion in late Q4 2026, while a 1,000-metre core drilling program is currently underway at Midway Hills. The three-track advancement strategy is designed to carry Tonopah from the study stage into formal mine permitting, a milestone the company describes as a critical value-building step.

Key Points

  • Viva Gold Corp. (TSXV: VAU; OTCQB: VAUCF) operates the 100%-owned Tonopah Gold Project in western Nevada
  • Pre-Feasibility Study on schedule for late Q4 2026 completion; mine design is substantially complete and detailed costing is underway
  • PFS mill configuration disclosed as a 3,000-tonne-per-day gravity/CIL mill for higher-grade ore and a 7,000-tonne-per-day heap leach for lower-grade material
  • Investors may be watching for assay results from the first Midway Hills drill hole, expected to be completed and submitted for assay shortly

Pre-Feasibility Study Progress and Mill Configuration at Tonopah

The Tonopah PFS is advancing with mine design described as substantially complete and detailed costing underway. A trade-off study on plant sizing, incorporating results from 2026 drilling, has been completed. The release states the PFS will be based on a 3,000-tonne-per-day gravity/CIL mill processing higher-grade mineralization and a 7,000-tonne-per-day heap leach for lower-grade material. The company has approximately 213 million shares outstanding and states it is well funded to complete both the PFS and the baseline studies required to submit a Mine Plan of Operations to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Midway Hills Drilling Intersects Key Geological Horizons

A 1,000-metre core drilling program is underway at Midway Hills, located approximately 1.4 kilometres northwest of the main Tonopah pit area. The first hole, drilled from the same collar as discovery hole TG2617, has reached approximately 250 metres depth and intersected the Ordovician Palmetto Argillite roughly 65 metres northwest of that prior hole. The overlying Tertiary volcanic unit shows abundant iron oxide, silicification, and quartz veining. The company cautions that visual alteration observations are not a substitute for laboratory assays. Earlier multi-element assays from holes TG2616 to TG2618 suggest Midway Hills mineralization has higher cyanide-soluble gold and silver ratios and lower silica than the main deposit.

Environmental Baseline and Permitting Work Running Concurrently

A second drill rig on site is completing four groundwater monitoring wells, a second aquifer pump test well, two water level measurement boreholes, and an upstream monitoring well — infrastructure intended to support a groundwater model required under the National Environmental Policy Act review. An archaeological survey team is mobilising to complete a Class III survey across portions of the land package not surveyed in over 10 years. The company also disclosed that its 2026 golden eagle and raptor survey report and completed geochemistry studies have been submitted to the BLM for review.