History
i-80 Gold went from advancing four Nevada gold projects to a near-default on its debt in 2025, then cleared its legacy debt with a $500 million package in 2026.
2022-2024: Listing and a push to build
The record for these years is thin. In May 2022 the exchange certified i-80 Gold Corp.'s securities for listing, clearing them to begin trading. The company ended 2022 with 240,561,017 shares on issue.
The next major beat came in January 2024, with a review of the previous year. Mining had started and gold output was rising. Drilling at Ruby Hill produced thick, high-grade hits: 15.6% zinc over 40 metres at Blackjack, and 45.4 grams per tonne of gold over 17.5 metres at Tyche. The company was advancing four Nevada properties at once, aiming to become one of the largest US precious-metals producers. Shares on issue rose to 298,502,334 by the end of 2023 and 409,786,956 by the end of 2024; the beats do not explain these increases.
2025: A cash squeeze and patchwork fixes
Trouble surfaced in January 2025. After a near-default tied to minimum-cash covenants (rules requiring a minimum cash balance), i-80 settled with the holders of its $65 million convertible debentures, K2 Principal Fund and Condire Resources. The price was dilutive: conversion at a 15% discount, a senior lien on McCoy-Cove, and a 104% redemption option. Lender Orion extended its $50 million credit facility to June 2026 in return for 5 million warrants.
Stopgap financing followed. On 31 January the company closed an equity offering of 28.2 million shares at C$0.80, raising about C$22.6 million. In February it gave an Orion affiliate the right to buy 20% of refined gold and silver from Granite Creek and Ruby Hill from 2028 to 2034 at market prices. In March it formalised the debenture changes and raised C$798,000 from an insider share purchase. In April it sold forward about 6,800 ounces of gold and 345,000 ounces of silver to National Bank of Canada to meet deliveries owed to Orion. That met its covenants for now but added another obligation.
At the same time, the company published economic studies (preliminary economic assessments, or PEAs) for five projects: Cove, Archimedes, Mineral Point, Granite Creek Underground and Granite Creek Open Pit. Together they made up a hub-and-spoke plan, with several mines feeding the central Lone Tree processing plant.
The turning point came in May, when i-80 raised approximately $164.2 million net in a bought-deal offering of 345.8 million units at $0.50, plus an insider placement. The money was earmarked for development and for paying off the National Bank and Orion prepay obligations. Shares on issue roughly doubled to 827,230,192 by year end. In September, with permits in hand, the company broke ground on Archimedes, its second underground mine, targeting first gold in Q4 2026. It set out a three-phase plan to reach 600,000 ounces of gold a year by the early 2030s. In November it published an updated resource estimate for its non-core FAD property.
2026: Clearing the debt
In January 2026, drilling at Granite Creek Underground supported expanding the deposit north and at depth. In February, i-80 announced a $500 million financing package: a $250 million royalty sale to Franco-Nevada, covering the whole portfolio at 1.5% rising to 3.0% of net smelter return (revenue after smelting costs), and a $250 million gold prepayment facility with National Bank of Canada and Macquarie Bank.
The Franco-Nevada deal closed on 17 March. The proceeds redeemed the convertible debentures and retired the Orion gold prepay and convertible credit facility. On 24 March the company issued $287.5 million of 3.75% convertible senior notes due 2031, convertible at about $1.93 a share. On 27 March it closed the prepayment facility ($150 million upfront, $100 million optional extra) and declared its recapitalization complete, with a fully funded development plan. Shares on issue stood at 865,901,683 at the end of the 2026 record.
By 1 July 2026, Archimedes drilling continued to return strong results, including 16.2 g/t gold over 56.4 metres. Archimedes hosts 436,000 ounces indicated and 988,000 ounces inferred. Development remained on schedule for first gold in Q4 2026. The feasibility-level studies for Granite Creek Underground and Cove Underground were pushed back from Q2 to Q3 2026.
Written from the 19 story beats below (2022 to 1 July 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.