WRLG, WEX, NTH
Market response was muted to West Red Lake Gold aka WRLG's release of a PFBS for the Madsen Mine in Ontario, at which they plan to restart operations in Q2. The numbers look good to me -- initial capex of $44M, a very good IRR of 225%, AISC a little high at $1681/oz Au over a six year mine life, all based on a gold price of $2200 -- so I am guessing the response means the market was expecting better.
As they work toward start-up, WRLG sees two potential opportunities for upside potential. First, the reserves in the PFBS are defined using a cutoff gold price of $1600/oz; they suggest that raising this to $1900 would add more than two years to mine life. As well, they think they will find more ore as they drill gaps between currently defined ore bodies. They also mention that several known ore bodies are not currently included in the mine plan, particularly as the PFBS is based on 800 tpd throughput, while the Madsen Mill has nameplate capacity of 1,089 tpd.
At the end of August WRLG has working capital of about $15M, and have since completed a $29M financin plus opened a $25M line of credit, so they should have enough funds on hand to make it to cash flow positive.
But do keep in mind that the previous owner went bankrupt.
Message 34970294
Western Exploration aka WEX released the latest results from its painfully slow -- these were only the 4th and 5th holes drilled last year -- exploration programme on its Aura Au/Ag project in Nevada.
The results were good, extending the new high grade Jarbidge rhyolite zone just to the east of the existing Gravel Creek resource with intercepts like 1.53m @ 19.98 g/t AuEq (10.39 g/t Au and 815.1 g/t Ag) and 1.13m @ 12.0 g/t AuEq (8.24 g/t Au and 318.9 g/t Ag). The Jarbidge Rhyolite has now been extended to 350m on dip and 250m on dip and remains open in multiple direction. There are also a number of similar targets on the property that need to be tested, but to do that WEX will need to attract a JV partner to speed up the process.
Without that, WEX remains a longshot.
Message 34971861
Nord Precious Metals aka NTH has made a promising accidental discovery on their Castle Mine property in Ontario. They have already laid out plans to rehabilitate the mine by processing surface tailing dumps to extract metals and then use them to backfill underground. Part of the plan is to set up a recently acquired gravity pant on the property. While searching for an appropriate location, they managed to come up with previously unidentified tailings under a cover of mine waste. Further exploration and testing will be done to outline the extent of this discovery.
NTH plans to submit permits in mid-2025 under the newly streamlined Act covering yailings reprocessing plants.
Message 34970266 |
