GTI Resources (ASX: GTR) has finished its aircore drilling program at the Niagara Gold Project ahead of schedule.

 

The Niagara Gold Project is located ~6 km southwest of Kookynie in the central goldfields of WA and comprises one granted exploration licence, E40/ 342 and six contiguous prospecting licence applications including existing applications, P40/1506, P40/1515, P40/1516 and P40/1517 plus the recently acquired P40/1513 and P40/1518.

 

This region is starting to attract exploration attention and dollars, which has given GTR momentum to drill test its own ground here.

 

Those who have followed activity in the region will know Genesis Minerals Ltd (ASX: GMD) acquired a 248km² tenement package at Kookynie that includes 15km of strike length and a JORC Indicated and Inferred Resource of 414,000oz. GMD’s Greater Ulysses Project in this region holds 1.28Moz, and the company is currently capped at $68.5M.

 

Metalicity Ltd (ASX: MCT) is also located in the region, neighbouring GTR. Its highly successful drilling campaign earlier this year, saw MCT gain almost 250% after hitting “spectacular” high grade results from first assays at Kookynie in its joint venture (JV) with Nex Metals Exploration Ltd (ASX: NME).

 

MCT’s success hints at the potential of GTR’s WA ground, which is only circa 2km north of GTR’s project. MCT has a 50% interest in its Kookynie project, while GTR has 100% ownership.

 

The news comes just a week after the company received encouraging assay results from the recently completed second auger soil sampling program.

 

The recent Aircore drill campaign targeted six of the eight significant gold in soil anomalies identified within exploration Licence E40/342.

 

Drilling of the targeted geochemical anomalies has intersected quartz veining in a number of drill holes at predicted positions.

 

The intersected veins are occasionally associated with pyrite selvages and as fracture fill and silicification.

 

The relationship between the geochemical anomalies and the intersection of quartz veins

will be established once assay results have been received.

 

Drilling is also providing guidance on the lithology and structure within the drilled areas         including silicified faults, which complements the structural interpretation.

Lithologies intersected included basalt, granitoids, ultramafics and metasediments.

 

The geological and structural model will be updated and interpreted in the coming weeks and then incorporated with the multielement geochemistry when received.

 

Drilling was concluded ahead of schedule with 52 holes completed at an average depth of 45 metres for 2,321 metres total.

 

Initial gold analysis is expected in mid to the third week of October and multi-element geochemistry soon after.

 

An RC rig is scheduled to start testing bedrock targets during late October following receipt of results from the current round of Aircore drilling.

A fine time to accelerate exploration

It would be highly beneficial for GTR given the current Australian dollar gold price if this accelerated and extensive exploration campaign were to shape the way for a swift move to early-stage production.

 

While some corners of the investment community are focusing on gold’s retracement from about US$1950 per ounce to US$1860 per ounce over the last month, what appears to have gone unnoticed is the sharp depreciation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar that has occurred in the last week.

 

If we look at the last few weeks in isolation, the Australian dollar gold price was $2667 per ounce on 17 September when the price was US$1950 per ounce.

 

As we write, the gold price has rebounded in the last 24 hours to hit US$1890 per ounce, and with the Australian dollar sitting at US$0.707 the Australian dollar gold price is $2673 per ounce, implying a slight premium to the US dollar price that prevailed on 17 September.

 

The average operating production costs are in the vicinity of about $1350 per ounce, implying a hefty margin of about $1300 per ounce at current spot rates.

 

Consequently, GTR is very much a right place/right time story, particularly given the region’s history of yielding high-grade mineralisation that can significantly drive down the cost of production.

Watch Tony Sage, Non-Executive Director of European Lithium (ASX:EUR | FRA:PF8 | VSE:ELI) and Jared Sim, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of StockPal in this engaging Q&A with the following questions:

0:10 – What is your business about?
1:19 – How did your company cope with the COVID-19 pandemic?
1:56 – What projects are you currently working on?
3:05 – When do you target commercialization for the company?
4:04 – What is your firm’s competitive advantage?
6:00 – How are you currently engaging with your investors?

Visit European Lithium’s website to learn more about their story: https://europeanlithium.com/

Email [email protected] if you are or represent a listed-company and is keen to be in our interviews.

Want to be on the list next time this company raises capital? Open an account with Fresh Equities and start exploring capital raises – freshequities.com

The richly gold-copper endowed Mid-Cauca porphyry belt in Colombia hosts numerous multi-million-ounce gold discoveries and attracted the world’s three largest gold producers — Newmont Gold Corp., Barrick Gold Corp., and AngloGold Ashanti.

Also drawn to the richly gold-copper endowed region is ASX-listed junior Los Cerros (ASX: LCL) which has a dominant position within the belt’s Andes and Quinchia regions.

Los Cerros has just reported that it had intercepted thick gold mineralisation from surface at the Tesorito target at its Quinchia Project.

The stock closed up a handy 127% yesterday after the announcement was released to the ASX.

That move lifted the company’s market capitalisation to $60 million — still only a fraction of its neighbouring mining majors.

Drill hole TS-DH08, the first hole of the company’s current expanded drilling program at Tesorito, returned an exceptionally wide gold intercept and hinted that there is further potential at depth.

These first assay results confirmed the encouraging results of previous drill holes TS-DH02 and TS-DH07 that are located either side of the recently completed hole. This has further demonstrated both the deeper gold-copper porphyry and the near surface high grade epithermal gold potential.

Gold mineralisation exceeding 1g/t Au has now been demonstrated by three separate diamond holes to exceed 230m downhole thickness, over an area of 300m x 250m, and remaining open in all directions

The raw data from these latest holes is extremely impressive with TS-DH08 returning 230 metres at 1.0 g/t gold, including some prominent intersections of 18 metres at 2.0 g/t gold from surface and 116 metres at 1.4 g/t gold from 114 metres to 230 metres.

Importantly, these results build on 384 metres at just over 1 g/t gold from 16 metres and 253 metres at a similar grade from 2.9 metres.

In the heart of the multi Moz Mid-Cauca Gold Belt

Los Cerros’ Quinchia Project hosts the Miraflores Gold Deposit with a Resource of 877,000 gold ounces at 2.8 g/t gold and Reserve of 457,000 ounces at 3.3 g/t gold.

Within three kilometres of Miraflores is the Tesorito near surface porphyry where the company is currently drilling.

Also in close proximity, is the Chuscal target where a maiden drilling program was completed in January 2020 and drilling is set to recommence in October 2020.

The multi-million ounce Mid-Cauca Gold Belt is home to large producing mines, recent high profile discoveries and the subject of extensive investment by mining majors, including AngloGold Ashanti, a shareholder in Los Cerros.

AngloGold is the third largest gold mining company in the world based on production.

This is an outstanding endorsement of the company’s prospects given Anglo’s comprehensive understanding of the region.

AngloGold’s 30 million ounce Nuevo Chaquiro project (also known as Quebradona) lies 50 kilometres north of Los Cerros’ territory.

The gold component of the AngloGold’s reserve at the Nuevo Chaquiro copper-gold project was based on a gold grade of 0.71 g/t, highlighting the potential commercial viability of the grades being delineated by Los Cerros.

Even at 0.71 g/t gold, the contained gold in Nuevo Chaquiro is 2.5 million ounces, highlighting the benefits of developing the large-scale projects that are characteristic of the region.

At Los Cerros’ Tesorito, there is already emerging evidence of scale and continuity of both near surface epithermal and deeper high grade porphyry style mineralisation.

Down hole thicknesses exceeding 230 metres of gold mineralisation of 1 g/t or above, essentially from surface, have now been identified in three drill holes over an area of 300 metres x 250 metres. This mineralisation remains open to the north-northeast and east direction as well as showing additional promise to host copper with gold in depth extensions.

Current hole TS-DH09 is exploring an untested northern anomaly, currently at a depth of 329 metres, the outcome of which is much anticipated.

Los Cerros’ Senior Geologists, both of whom have worked at the multi-million ounce Nuevo Chaquiro deposit, 51 kilometres to our north, and La Colosa deposit, 104 kilometres south-east, have noted textural and mineralogical similarities to that deposit, especially its porphyry core which also carries banded veins, UST textures and primary bornite.

Commenting on these promising results, Los Cerros’ managing director Jason Stirbinskis said, “This is a highly encouraging start to the drill campaign as not only has it provided a sense of near-surface porphyry mineralised volume given similar results of nearby holes, it has hinted that there is further potential at depth.

‘’Primary bornite is a copper rich mineral species, its presence, based on visual logs, correlates to elevated copper in assays and has raised the possibility of more copper occurrences as we chase depth extensions in subsequent drilling.

‘’In this regard it is interesting to note that TS-DH02 recorded an intersection near end of hole, of 35 metres grading 0.2% copper from 365 metres downhole including 0.7 metres at 2.6% copper from 391 metres downhole depth, some 90 metres vertically below the TS-DH08 hole depth.

‘’The 18 metre intersection grading 2.0 g/t gold from surface including 6 metres at 4.1g/t gold also provides encouragement to further pursue the east-west trending epithermal veins for high grade gold resources to supplement existing resources and reserves at the nearby Miraflores deposit.

Stribinskis has referred to the possibility of adding high-grade gold resources to supplement the existing resource at Miraflores.

This could become an integral part of the company’s strategy, particularly with the gold price hovering in the vicinity of US$2,000 per ounce.

Other options were pursued ahead of Miraflores when the gold price was approximately US$1,300 per ounce, but another $700 per ounce could make the mine highly economical, even more so if the resource was expanded and complemented by the addition of higher grade ore.