TUO, OGC, IAU, BTO
Teuton Resources aka TUO reported on exploration being carries out by HV partner OPV on the Harry prospect in BC's Golden Triangle.
OPV used a new technique I had not heard of, backpack drilling, to explore two new zones, dubbed Sheeted Vein and Saw Cut. These small man-portable drill are useful in areas swept clean by glaciation to drill reconnaissance holes 1m deep which can be followed up by conventional drilling if warranted. The result core revealed very promising levels of Cu/Zn/Pb/Au/Ag minerlaization, the best being 0.37% Cu, 39.74% Pb, 22.95% Zn, 0.477 g/t Au, & 970 g/t Ag. As a result, there was follow-up conventional drilling, from which assays are still pending.
Thus far OPV has been very gung ho for this property, so I expect that in due course an extensive 2023 exploration programme will be announced.
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FWIW, in the wake of yesterday's release of Oceanagold aka OGC's annual report, BMO released an updated analyst report. As did I, they liked the company's 2022 performance, particularly in Q4, as well as the reinstatement of a dividend, but they also picked up on something I missed, various decrease in the three year guidance going ahead. They kept OGC at Outperform but dropped their target from $3.75 to $3.50
i-80 Gold aka IAU this morning released a great lead-in to their webinar on their Ruby Hill property (see below for more) in Nevada, from which they are already producing some gold via a heap leach, to be supplemented by new production sites on which they will begin construction once permits are received later this year.
They announced the discovery of three new high grade CRD deposits they have dubbed the Upper, Lower and East Hilltop Zones. Once again the headline intercepts are impressive, e.g. 1.7 g/t Au, 421.3 g/t Ag, 6.9% Zn, & 19.8% Pb over 15.2 m and 25.3 g/t Au, 848.0 g/t Ag, & 7.9 Pb over 7.6m in the Upper Hilltop Zone, as well as.2 g/t Au, 433.6 g/t Ag, 20.7% Zn, & 12.4% Pb over 3.1m in the Lower Hilltop Zone.
All three newly discovered zones are located near existing infrastructure, marking an easy path to production. Even better, preliminary exploration has already identified a number of other potential CRD and other prospects in the undrilled portion of the Hilltop Corridor.
Although during the webinar IAu stated they still have not decided whether to renovate the Ruby Hill mill to process oxide gold or to turn it to the production of BM concentrates (with high PM kickers), I am thinking they will choose the latter, especially after they revealed they are talking to Nevada Gold Mines about processing IAU's oxides at their mill. (IAU already has an agreement with NGM to process sulfide ore until IAU has finished renovating their autoclave.)
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IAU also announced that they had closed their PP, which has been upsized to $85M of convertible debentures, some of which were taken up by IAU insiders. They now have plenty of cash to follow up on their many plans.
ca.finance.yahoo.com
I also watched IAU's hour long presentation on Ruby Hill, and it was remarkable. It's quite the property they have their hands on, bristling with different types of large high grade deposits. The most exciting thing I learned today was that they just spudded a drill hole looking for a giant underlying porphyry I hadn't heard about before, but that will be for the future. They plan to start underground construction at Ruby Hill later this year, construction that will allow them to reach both PM and BM deposits, all high grade.
IAU is definitely getting noticed. Beside the people in the room for the presentation, there were also about 150 on line participants.
B2Gold aka BTO released its annual results yesterday. We already knew the production numbers, so this release was all about the money, and the news was mixed. The cash costs for Q4 production were roughly as expected at $468/oz Au. They did manage to match full guidance both with respect to production and costs, and Q4 cash flow looked good, but Q4 net profit was below expectations at 15 cents per share. They did manage to add $102M to their cash stash, which stood at $802M at year end. Much of that will be eaten up by the SBB purchase but if they can continue to generate strong cash flow that will not become a problem.
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FWIW, in response TD issued a new analyst report on BTO. They called the impact Neutral, noting that costs were in line but earning were below expectations. They maintained BTO at Buy with a target of $8.50.
Saville acknowledges the possibility that gold set a multi-week low last Friday, but considers it more likely that there will be a 1-2 week rebound followed by a decline to the ultimate correction low. He also comments that gold stocks are very oversold but opines that we will probably have to wait a while for a rebound to get underway. |
