It is owned as a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation (61.5%) and Newmont Corporation (38.5%), operated by Barrick, and comprises the Pipeline, Crossroads, and Cortez Hills open pit mines; and the Cortez Hills underground mine.

[3] The Gold Acres operation in the Cortez Mountains included open pit and underground mines in the 1930s and 1940s.

The United States Bureau of Mines built a pilot plant in 1969 which would make heap leaching for gold commercially viable by 1971.

The low grade ore and dump material from the Gold Acres operation was then heap leached.

The Cortez Hills deposit was discovered in 2002, underground development to define the resource limits began in 2006.

The Pipeline complex lies within 600 feet (183 m) of silty limestone in what is called the Silurian Roberts Mountain Formation.

The declines are used to haul ore from the stopes to surface and to provide ventilation for the mining operation.

[3] The declines and lateral development utilize welded wire mesh and shotcrete with swellex bolts for ground support.

[3] Low grade ore from open pit at the Cortez Hills deposit will be heap leached at dedicated heap leach pads at Cortez Hills site, while ore from the underground mine will be mixed with higher grade open pit and will be sent 10 miles (16 km) to the Pipeline mill via the largest overland conveyor in Nevada.

Working with the United States Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada Department of Wildlife Cortez has already revegetated some of their old waste dumps by placing alluvium over the waste rock and planting local vegetation in the area[3] Northern Nevada has a limited supply of surface water which is considered a precious commodity, however large amounts of water can be found underground.

[6] A preliminary injunction requested by Western Shoshone activists was placed on Barrick to prevent the company from developing the Cortez Hills Mine expansion.