High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Cortez Gold Mine is a large gold mining and processing facility in Lander and Eureka County, Nevada, United States, located approximately 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Elko. It is owned and operated by Barrick Gold and is made up of the Pipeline and South Pipeline deposits and the Cortez Hills deposit. The Pipeline and South Pipeline are open pit mines, and the Cortez Hills deposit, currently under construction will utilize both underground and open pit mining techniques. Under continuous operation, Cortez has been open longer than any gold mine in the state of Nevada. It will become Barrick`s largest gold producer in Nevada, in part because of the decline in production from their Goldstrike mine and the development of the Cortez Hills deposit.