Gold Road Resources Secures High-Rolling Finance Facilities

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Gold Road Resources (ASX: GOR) has inked a Revolving Corporate, Working Capital and Gold Hedging Agreement (collectively to be known as – Finance Facilities) with a financing syndicate comprising ING Bank Australia, National Australia Bank and Société Générale Hong Kong.

Gold Road Resources said the Finance Facilities had been more than six months in the making and are part of the company’s prudent management of financial assets.

“These Finance Facilities are a prudent move as we transition the company from being an explorer with a development asset to an Australian mid-tier gold producer with significant exploration upside and the financial capability and flexibility to grow further,” Gold Road Resources managing director & CEO Ian Murray said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The establishment of these financing facilities provides a strong platform to ensure the continuance of the planned exploration across all the Yamarna tenements, as well as ensuring the Gruyere JV is supported through the important pre-completion and commissioning phase.

“The additional discretionary gold hedging capacity affords Gold Road the flexibility to appropriately manage its gold price risk exposures as Gruyere moves into production.

“The financing syndicate provided these facilities on very competitive pricing and terms because of the quality of the Gruyere project, our highly regarded JV partner and manager, and the advanced stage of construction.”

 

Email: perth@goldroad.com.au

Website: www.goldroad.com.au

 

St George Mining to Resume Mt Alexander Drilling

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) is about to commence a major diamond and RC (reverse circulation) drill program at the company’s Mt Alexander project near Leonora, in the North-eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

St George Mining said the planned drill program will consist twenty planned drill holes for 2,510 metres of drilling with further drilling to be undertaken as drill results are assessed and downhole EM (DHEM) surveys on completed drill holes are reviewed.

Most of the planned drill holes are to be carried out at the Stricklands prospect where drill hole MAD71, completed late last year, returned the best intersection the company has encountered to date at the Mt Alexander project

The thick ultramafic channel at Stricklands was originally identified by MAD49, which intersected:

18.86 metres at 0.42 per cent nickel, 0.16 per cent copper, 0.02 per cent cobalt and 0.36 grams per tonne total PGEs from 31.8m; and

3.36m at 2.09 per cent nickel, 1.18 per cent copper, 0.09 per cent cobalt and 1.82g/t total PGEs from 50.66m.

MAD71 was subsequently drilled to the north of MAD49 and also intersected the prospective ultramafic unit at shallow depth but with a much thicker high-grade nickel-copper sulphide intersection including more than eight metres in aggregate of massive nickel-copper sulphides.

Follow-up drilling completed by Sy George last year at Stricklands continued to intersect the mineralised ultramafic, which the company interpreted as an east-northeast oriented ultramafic channel.

The company said the drilling it has completed to date indicates the mineralised channel may extend over 400m.

“Drilling in 2017 at Mt Alexander intersected thick massive nickel-copper sulphides at each of the Stricklands, Investigators and Cathedrals prospects,” St George Mining executive chairman John Prineas said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We are excited to be commencing our 2018 drill program at Mt Alexander to follow-up on last year’s success.

“At Stricklands, nine drill holes were completed last year to follow-up the outstanding intersection in MAD71 and of those seven drill holes intersected nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation.

“The high strike rate provides confidence that further drilling at Stricklands will continue to identify mineralised ultramafic.”

The company indicated its planned drilling at Stricklands for 218 will continue to test for extensions to the mineralised ultramafic, particularly where it considers it to be co-incident with the strongest portion of a large SAMSON EM anomaly.

 

Email: info@stgm.com.au

Website: www.stgm.com.au

 

Investigator Resources Revises Nankivel porphyry copper target

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Investigator Resources (ASX: IVR) completed three reverse circulation percussion(RCP) holes to test the Trojan Induced Polarisation target within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Peterlumbo tenement in South Australia.

The tenements are five kilometres southeast of Investigator Resources’ 42 million-ounce Paris silver project.

Investigator drilled the three 400m-spaced reverse circulation percussion in mid-February 2018 to test the large Trojan IP target.

The drilling intersected pyritic metasediments without visible copper sulphide.

Investigator said the pyritic metasediment can be interpreted as the southern pyritic halo to Nankivel porphyry system and, as a result, has revised the location of the project’s central copper-prospective zone.

The company is now awaiting assay results to allow it to investigate metal ratio vectors to potential adjacent targets.

For now, Investigator’s focus will continue to advance the Paris silver project with.

Upcoming work to follow a four-hole program of deeper RCP drilling completed last week in the prospective south-eastern Paris extension will consist assessment of an Induced Polarisation survey completed in early February for satellite silver targets with further drilling planned in March at Paris and satellite targets.

“The drilling showed the strongest IP anomaly in the Nankivel porphyry system results from pyrite in network fractures and quartz veining and is interpreted as the outer pyritic zone to the system,” Investigator Resources managing director John Anderson said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This implies the drilling has overstepped any copper-prospective centre to the system, north of and most likely significantly deeper than the recent drilling.

“Investigator will not undertake any further sole exploration on the Nankivel project.

“A Joint Venture partner will be sought to fund further exploration.

“Investigator will continue to focus on the nearby Paris silver project.

“Following the Trojan program, four holes were also recently completed with the larger RCP drill rig in the south-eastern Paris extension zone.

“Assays are awaited.”

 

Email: info@investres.com.au

Website: www.investres.com.au

 

Venture Minerals Identifies Priority Ultramafic Target

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) claimed discovery of an additional ultramafic target near the recent Quicksilver nickel-cobalt discovery of Golden Mile Resources (ASX: G88), east of Perth in Western Australia.

Venture Minerals pointed out that its Pingaring project is located just four kilometres along strike to the south-east of the Quicksilver discovery.

The Pingaring project now contains 150 strike kilometres of ultramafic targets, which Venture Minerals has interpreted to be the same host unit that the Quicksilver nickel-cobalt deposit sits within.

The company has identified a new ultramafic target that extends over five kilometres and has been interpreted to be the ultramafic core of a layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion which are prospective for nickel, cobalt and copper sulphides.

Venture Minerals explained the discovery came from reconnaissance surface sampling throughout the westernmost tenement of the project, which also confirmed the other interpreted ultramafic targets.

The company said its interpretation of the ultramafic core is supported by +1200ppm chromium and anomalous platinum, palladium and gold laterite samples as well as detailed aeromagnetic data.

“This new target has now become a priority for Venture at Pingaring,” Venture Minerals said in its ASX announcement.

“Venture has a dominant land position within an emerging new nickel-cobalt province in Western Australia and upon successful granting, the company will commence a detailed surface mapping and sampling program to define priority drill targets.”

 

Email: admin@ventureminerals.com.au

Website: www.ventureminerals.com.au

 

Xanadu Mines Encounters Further Mineralisation at Stockwork Hill

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Xanadu Mines (ASX: XAM) is conducting an exploration program targeting extensions of high-grade copper and gold mineralisation along strike and below current resources at the company’s Kharmagtai copper and gold project located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia.

Xanadu Mines recently carried out drilling on the Stockwork Hill deposit, which it claims to confirm high-grade extensions below the current resource.

Results include:

KHDDH448
230 metres at 0.5 per cent copper and 0.91 grams per tonne gold (1.09 per cent copper equivalent (CuEq)) from of 574m, including 117.5m at 0.76 per cent copper and 1.63g/t gold (1.8% CuEq) from 624.5m, including 71.2m at 0.92 per cent copper and 2.33g/t gold (2.41% CuEq) from 684m.

The company said that increasing bornite mineralisation down hole indicates the drilling is nearing the higher-grade core of the deposit.

The drilling suggests that he Stockwork Hill and White Hill systems begin to merge at depth, which Xanadu believes could increase resource potential.

Other drilling carried out at Target 19 encountered porphyry mineralisation and has confirmed the deposit as a new shallow porphyry copper discovery, 1.5 kilometres west of White Hill.

Results include:

KHDDH435
213.4m at 0.23 per cent copper and 0.17g/t gold (0.34% CuEq) from 86m, including 130.3m at 0.29 per cent copper and 0.22g/t gold (0.43% CuEq) from 130m, including 16m at 0.47 per cent copper and 0.39g/t gold (0.72% CuEq) from 200m.

Mineralisation at Target 19 remains completely preserved at depth, again indicating resource potential.

Xanadu said the results continue to confirm the Kharmagtai project as a district scale trend with potential to host further copper-gold discoveries.

Xanadu signalled its intention to resume exploration drilling of high-grade gold and copper targets at its Red Mountain project in March.

“What really sets our geology team apart from other explorers is our porphyry copper expertise, which is demonstrated in this new round of results where extensional drilling has significantly increased the footprint of the Kharmagtai porphyry system and where we continue to add high-grade tonnes to the existing resource,” Xanadu Mines managing director and CEO Dr Andrew Stewart said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“We are particularly excited in the latest scout drilling at Target 19 where we have intersected broad zones of new copper porphyry mineralisation 1.5 kilometres west of the large White Hill deposit.

“This could provide another shallow, low strip ratio discovery within the district.”

 

Website: www.xanadumines.com.au

2018 RIU Explorers Conference Day Three

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: The Resources Roadhouse wraps up its coverage of the 2018 RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle.

Thundelarra Stakes Exploration Discovery Claims

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Thundelarra (ASX: THX) CEO Tony Lofthouse gave delegates at the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle something to think about. By Jack Baker

“We’re a gold explorer,” Lofthouse informed the crowd.

“We’re finding native, visible, fresh, free gold in fresh rock at 200-odd metres vertical extending below the existing operations…it’s not little stuff that’s coming out the near surface.

“This is real rock, real gold in the rock and it means there’s a primary deposit there and that’s what’s significant for us.

“We have money in the game and it’s not freebies that have been handed out…it’s hard earned cash in the company which is why we’re convinced that what we have is worth pursuing.”

The crux of the presentation was what the company believes to be a major discovery in the Garden Gully site.

Lofthouse said results of drilling of the Lydia and Crown Prince sites at Garden Gully show near-surface material he thinks they can get to.

He said that while some deposits may be deep; they are showing that below the existing workings they are still seeing a high grade perpetuated below the historical work.

He also noted that Garden Gully was situated close to the established Andy Well and Bluebird gold plants, with the ability to arrange toll treatment operations for quick monetisation.

“If we can do that we can start self-funding further exploration to establish the potential that exists unquestionably at depth at this deposit,” he said.

One thing that Lofthouse found interesting was observation of gold within arsenopyrite.

While its presence complicates mineralisation, he noted that it was rare you get any deposit of size without some structural complexity.

“We own our interests and our destiny 100 per cent and the bits that we don’t own are freebies for us,” he said.

“They don’t have any drain on any of our capital, either intellectual or financial.”

 

Email: info@thundelarra.com.au

Website: www.thundelarra.com.au

 

Alloy Resources Believes Buyback puts Gold Project in Better Place

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: Speaking at the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle, Alloy Resources (ASX: AYR) Executive Chairman Andrew Viner was optimistic the company is ready to start moving forward after an extended down period. By Jack Baker

“What we’ve tried to do with Alloy is get quality projects,” he told the conference audience.

“We’ve got projects adjacent to major world-class mining centres, we’ve got large land holdings, really good geology, established mineralisation and in all cases are underexplored.

“We’re looking for gold which remains fabulous, particularly in Australia.

“We’ve got a very exciting new high-grade discovery that’s happened next door.

“We’ve got multiple exploration targets that are ready to go with no impediments apart from lots of rain.”

Alloy Resources managed to buyback 11 per cent of its Horse Well Joint Venture from partner Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) for $500,000 in order to attain a 51 per cent majority stake and retake control of the project in January, which Viner believes could become one of Australia’s premier gold mines.

The venture involves 1000 square kilometres of greenstone belt just 50 kilometres north of Northern Star’s 220,000 ounce per annum Jundee gold mine in the Wiluna district.

The company had been relatively dormant for the past 16 months during a lack of funding.

“There was no risk capital, the bad old days, unlike today,” Viner explained.

“We couldn’t find the funding and had to farm it out.”

Speaking later to The Resources Roadhouse, Viner said now that Alloy has the project back it can return to mining highly graded prospects that were too small for Doray to look at.

“Doray was looking for a big standalone…trying to find a million ounce, two-million-ounce deposit,” he said.

“We can go back to these highly graded prospects that have always been there that are perfect for Alloy.”

He also mentioned that with the project returned to the company’s management it could deal with larger players that were less likely to speak with a competitor in Doray.

“We can talk to Northern Star now,” Viner declared.

“The main thing for us is to create value that is going to get our share price up, play the game, maybe we end up being a target for Northern Star…we can do that, Doray couldn’t really do that.”

Viner pointed out that Doray possessing a clawback option in the case of a major discovery isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“If that happens I’d be quite happy being free carried at 49 per cent, he said.

“Ee made sure that if there’s smaller discoveries we can develop them.

“There’s no impediment to us finding and developing smaller deposits.”

Viner said the Celia shear going through the middle of the greenstone belt was a major focus for the company.

“The Celia Shear actually has 300,000 ounces, it’s a bit deep and there’s quite a lot of depletion through there, but there’s a lot of gold,” he said.

“You combine that with our Horse Well deposits and you’ve already got yourself a mineralised structure with 380,000 ounces on it.”

The recent discovery of the Coralie Jean prospect was a cause of excitement for Viner.

“Lo and behold a little company called Overland Resources made a discovery late last year…it’s located in an exploration license that we completely surround,” Viner said.

“Fifty-five samples have averaged 17.3 grams of gold per tonne, it goes over 400 metres, an absolutely brilliant prospect-type discovery.”

Viner also touched on the company’s large cobalt and gold endowment near Broken Hill.

“Of course, cobalt is a very high demand metal for battery technology…you might have heard of Cobalt Blue, they have an absolutely huge deposit, 50,000 tonnes of cobalt,” he said.

“It really has a very good chance of being a major cobalt development in Australia, fortuitously Alloy landed with a 100 per cent-owned very large block of land right in the middle with the same geology and some signs of mineralisation.

“I didn’t really get a chance to stress that we have a great chance of finding something,

“Because the two players either side of us are at pre-feasibility stage, I’m really exploring to find more high-grade feed for those things…I can definitely add value there as well.

“We’ve got a really hot exploration project there, I hope you can see that, we’ve got the board that can do it.

“We’re in gold, we’re in cobalt: great places to be, we’ve got seriously strategic projects, we’ve got really big targets, we’re well funded, we’ve got a lot of support and there’s going to be a lot of activity over the coming year.”

 

Email: info@alloyres.com

Website: www.alloyres.com

 

2018 RIU Explorers Conference Day Two

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: The Resources Roadhouse continues its coverage of the 2018 RIU Explorers Conference.

 

Carbine Resources Mount Morgan Project Under Hiatus

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Carbine Resources (ASX: CRB) announced that it is minimising expenditure on its Mount Morgan project to preserve cash reserves while the board decides on its future there. By Jack Baker

Carbine Resources said the decision comes on the heels of an extensive economic review of the project that forecast an increase of the all-in sustaining cost (AISC) from $549 per ounce to $862 per ounce.

The revised AISC, combined with a relatively high pre-production capital cost of $87 million means the project will not generate the level of shareholder returns to justify development under the current parameters.

“Since April 2014, Carbine has spent $12.7 million and has been 100 percent focused on Mount Morgan,” Carbine Resources managing director Tony James said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It is now abundantly clear that for Mount Morgan to be bankable, all stakeholders will need to make significant amendments to their respective agreements with the company and the project.

“Carbine will now focus on seeking variations to the various corporate and government agreements considered necessary to improve the returns on the project to an acceptable level.

“In particular, the Board believes that to secure project funding, we need to re-negotiate the terms of the agreements with Norton and Raging Bull in respect of Carbine’s ownership and title to the Mount Morgan project.

“The company also requires adequate ongoing support from the Queensland Government, including a reduction in royalties, due to the project being an environmental clean-up project rather than a new mine development.

“Consideration also needs to be given in this regard to the timing associated with ongoing regulatory approvals.

“Carbine looks forward to holding these discussions with all stakeholders and, in the process, securing a future for Mount Morgan.”

The increase is largely due to higher cyanide consumption and lower by-product credits due to a forecast drop in the price of pyrite.

Test work done at the company’s recently completed demonstration plant also found that it would not be able to manufacture copper sulphate at the required market specification.

The review found that these factors, along with updated commodity prices and a shift in the USD/AUS exchange rate would lead to the substantial increase in AISC.

 

Email: admin@carbineresources.com.au

Website: www.carbineresources.com.au