TNGD, IAU, KTN, CAPT, DVm SIG
I sold part of my MAI holdings and used part of the funds to buy an initial tranche of shares in Tiernan Gold aka TNGD.
TNGD is a newly formed company which is developing the Volcan gold deposit in Chile. I first became aware of Volcan when I bought some shares of Andina Minerals about 15 years ago. Andina had developed Volcan to feasibility stage when it was bought out by Hocschild in 2012. Hochschild continued to develop the project, completing a new PEA last year. The latest Resources for Volcan include 9.8M oz Au M&I and 1.2M oz Inferred, while the PEA had an IRR of 29.9% at a gold price of $2400/oz, so at current prices the IRR would be much higher. And like RIO's nearby Fenix gold mine, it is a straightforward low cost heap leach project.
TNGD has a cash stash of over $53M, so they will have no problem with paying for their plans for Volcan, which include putting out a PFBS and forwarding metallurgical testing and permitting. The float is low, with only 48M shares out, 54M FD. And importantly for the Atacama Desert, they has secured abundant supplies of water. The website doesn't say much about management, but I am familiar with a number of them from other ventures, and have a problem only with the representatives from Hochschild, but they are peripheral.
We can expect to see an updated Mineral Resource Estimate by mid-2026 and a PFBS by the end of the year. They are also looking at the exploration potential of other areas on the property. They expect to carry out an FBS in 2027 and 2028, even as they complete permitting.
Just getting Volcan into production should be rewarding for shareholders, so if they can come up with other significant deposits along the remaining 6 km of untested strike, that will be a nice bonus.
tiernangold.com
Nevada Gold miner i-80 Gold aka IAU released the remaining results from last year's drilling at Granite Creek Underground, its first producing underground mine. Granite Creek is very high grade -- the current Indicated Resource grade is 10.5 g/t Au and the Inferred Resource grade is 13.0 g/t Au -- and 2025 drilling was aimed both at converting Inferred to Indicated and increasing the overall Resource by step out drilling.
The drill campaign, focused on the South Pacific Zone (APZ), was very successful. The 7 step-out holes extended SPZ mineralization substantially, while the infill drilling generated assays like 404.4 g/t over 13.2m, 31.3 g/t over 7.8m, 15.9 g/t 15.0 g/t over 17.5m, and 12.8 g/t over 19.8m should mean there will substantial growth exhibited in the new Resource Report currently underway. The SPZ remains open to the north and at depth, which will be followed up by further drilling.
We can expect to get the details of the new Resource Estimate later in Q1, after which the new numbers will be incorporated into a feasibility study for Granite Creek Underground, expected in Q2. 2026 will also bring drill campaigns on several other of IAU's mines to be, so expect constant news flow to continue the momentum exhibited by IAU's share price, the price of gold permitting.
It is important to note that the increased share price will make the upcoming completion of the recapitalization process for IAU less painful for existing shareholder.
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Another company that will have strong news flow this year is Kootenay Resources aka KTN. They will be carrying out a 50 km drill campaign on their Columba project in Chihuahua, Mexico, with the aim of doubling Resources to 100m oz Ag, but this PR concentrates on the plans for their La Cigarra project, also in Chihuahua.
La Cigarra has an Inferred Resource of 12.85M oz AgEq and an Indicated Resource of 60.56M oz AuEq. This will form the basis of a PEA expected to be released in Q2.
There has been a noticeable change in the language used by KTN in their PRs. The emphasis used to be more on exploration, but now they are presenting themselves as a developer with four separate projects underway. It's amazing what a rise in both the silver price and KTN's share price can bring.
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Capitan Silver aka CAPT had a big year in 2025, drilling up its Cruz de Plata Au/Ag project in Durango, Mexico, with their share price increasing by a factor of more than six. Today they announced the start of a 60km drilling campaign, four times the size of last year's.
This activity is made possible by the $29M in PPs they raised last month. Eventually there will be four rigs active, not only furthering the exploration of the Jose Maria Trend which was the source of last year's success, but also other silver exploration targets yet to be tested. As well, there will be more drilling at the Captain Hill Au deposit, for which a Resource Report was recently released, as well as other gold prospects. There will also be mapping and sampling and trenching of new prospects across the recently expanded property as well as geophysics.
BTW, there are still 55 holes with assays pending from last year's drilling, further increasing the upcoming news flow.
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I have been thinking about selling Dolly Varden Silver aka DV since they announced a merger with CTGO last month, and the latest PR cinched the decision. It is very ambiguous, announcing they had completed 32 holes on the Wolf Vein at their Kitsault Valley property in BC's Golden Triangle, and featuring an intersection of 467 g/t silver over 15.32 meters, including 1,309 g/t silver over 2.32m. However, I believe many of those 32 holes were previously reported, but you can't tell from this PR. I could go back and check all the PRs from last year to find out, but instead I am planning to sell my shares.
I prefer companies that are very clear and straightforward in their sharing of information, and for me DV does not pass that test. I'll take my 60%+ profit made over the less than 5 months I have held the shares and put it into a company I am more comfortable with.
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So what else is new? Sitka Gold aka SIG more good drill holes from their RC Gold property in the Tombstone Gold Belt in Yukon Territory, to little response by the market. At least this time the share price didn't go down! The way SIG trades is inexplicable, but as long as they can continue to pull good assays I am willing to hold my shares and hope the market eventually wakes up.
The time we hear about assays from three exploration targets.
The first hole into the Bear Paw Breccia Zone elevated it to a top candidate for more exploration with an assay of 21.0m of 1.05 g/t Au, including 10.0m of 1.64 g/t Au and 3.5m of 2.29 g/t Au. A hole into the Contact Zone yielded 37.0m of 1.10 g/t Au, including 4.5m of 6.10 g/t Au and 1.1m of 22.1 g/t Au, while another into the Pukelman intrusion yielded 23.6m of 1.00 g/t Au, including 2.0m of 5.0 g/t. All these will be followed up by future drilling.
As we wait for 2026 drilling to begin, there are still 15 holes into Rhosgobel for which assays are pending to keep the news flow coming. SIG has planned for 60 km of drilling at RC gold in 2026, so here's hoping they can generate enough positive results to finally get the share price moving up.
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