Global Gold Exploration Snapshot: Eight juniors seeking the yellow metal

Gold is a mainstay of exploration, and the price of the yellow metal has been creeping up — recently surpassing US$2,000 per oz. — amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Here are eight companies searching for the precious metal in South America, Australia, Canada, the U.S. and West Africa.

Cerrado Gold

Toronto-based Cerrado Gold (TSXV: CERT; US-OTC: CRDOF) is nearing completion on a feasibility study for the Serra Alta deposit at its Monte Do Carmo project’s Serra Alta deposit in Brazil. The study is expected to significantly increase resources based on assay results from a 193-hole drill program in 2022. The current open pit and underground indicated resource totals 9.1 million tonnes grading 1.85 grams gold per tonne for 541,000 oz., with inferred resources at 13.2 million tonnes grading 1.84 grams gold for 780,000 oz. Cerrado is currently working on mine engineering, process plant design, tailings facilities and associated infrastructure in anticipation of a production decision.

The company is already a gold miner with operations in Argentina and Brazil and expects to almost double 2022 production of 53,672 oz. of gold at its Minera Don Nicolas mine in Santa Cruz, Argentina by mid-2024. The production increase will come from the development and operation of two heap leach projects and the mining of high-grade underground resources.

Cerrado has secured all of the necessary environmental permits for its Las Calandrias heap leach project at Minera Don Nicolas with first ore expected to be stacked in April and the first gold pour scheduled before the end of May. An amended metals purchase agreement with Sprott Private Resource Streaming and Royalty announced Mar. 3 includes production from Las Calandrias and a $10-million advance on future production.

Mining at the 3,333.4-sq.-km property occurs at two open pits feeding a 1,000-tonne-per-day carbon-in-leach gold recovery plant.

Cerrado recently entered into a definitive agreement to add an iron and vanadium project to its portfolio through the acquisition of Voyager Metals (TSXV: VONE). The Mar. 7 press release announcing the agreement described the Mont Sorcier project near Chibougamou, Que., as a “well advanced, large, long-life and economically robust project” with an after-tax net present value (NPV) of US$1.6 billion and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 43%. A bankable feasibility study is due to be completed by the end of this year with production expected to begin in 2028.

Cerrado Gold has a market capitalization of $58.3 million.

Challenger Exploration

Perth, Australia-based Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) expects to report an updated resource estimate by the end of March at its Hualilan gold project in San Juan, Argentina. The current resource within a US$1,800 per oz. optimized pit shell consists of 18.7 million indicated tonnes grading 1.3 grams gold equivalent per tonne for 800,000 gold-equivalent oz., plus 25 million inferred tonnes grading 1.2 grams gold-equivalent per tonne for 1 million oz. Gold is hosted in a high-grade core of skarn mineralization and in intrusion/sediment-hosted mineralization. The current resource is based on 204,000 metres of drilling, including 125,700 metres probing the high-grade core.

In early February, the company announced it was midway through an additional 50,000 metres of drilling. Recent drill results include intersections of 7.7 grams gold equivalent per tonne over 67.7 metres and 9.8 grams gold equivalent over 63.3 metres.

The Hualilan project consists of 15 mining leases and an exploration licence application covering the surrounding 26 sq. km. The property has extensive historical drilling dating back to the 1970s and was last explored by La Mancha Resources resulting in a non-JORC resource estimate of 627,000 oz. of gold at a grade of 13.7 grams gold.

The company’s portfolio also includes the El Guayabo copper-gold project 35 km southeast of Machala in Ecuador’s El Oro province for which it expects to report a first resource in this year’s second quarter based on 25,000 metres of drilling. Drill results include intersections of 1.4 grams gold equivalent per tonne over 257.8 metres and 0.7 gram gold equivalent over 309.8 metres.

Other work in progress at El Guayabo includes the relogging of historical drill core, soil geochemistry, a mobile metal ions survey, a 3-D MT survey, and channel sampling.

The company also has a 95% interest in the Karoo Basin Gas project in South Africa through its South African subsidiary, Bundu Gas and Oil Exploration.

Challenger Exploration has a market capitalization of A$120.3 million.

De Grey Mining

De Grey Mining (ASX: DEG), a Perth-based company, has begun a feasibility study for its Hemi discovery in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Part of its 100%-owned, 1,500-sq.-km Mallina gold project, Hemi has potential for large-scale, low strip ratio, open pit mining. The project is located about 1,300 km north of Perth and 85 km south of Port Hedland.

According to a May 2022 resource estimate, Hemi contains 5.8 million indicated oz. of gold in 139.1 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams gold per tonne. Inferred resources add 2.7 million oz. in 74.1 million tonnes grading 1 gram gold.

De Grey expects to make a final investment decision and finalize project financing in the second half of this year.

A prefeasibility study released in September 2022 estimated annual gold production of 540,000 oz. over the first 10 years of operation and total production of 6.4 million oz. over a 13.6-year life of mine. Using a 5% discount rate and a gold price of A$2,400 per oz., the study reported an after-tax net present value of A$2.7 billion, an internal rate of return of 41% and all-in sustaining costs of A$1,280 per oz. over the first 10 years of production.

Discovered in late 2019, the Hemi discovery is an intrusion-hosted form of gold mineralization consisting of six main zones along a 3.5-km trend and to depths of up to 500 metres. According to De Grey, Hemi is among the three top undeveloped gold projects globally and will qualify as one of the top five gold mines in Australia once in production.

After raising A$149 million in 2022, De Grey is fully funded through to completion of the feasibility study and a final investment decision.

Results from resource definition drilling at Hemi’s Brolga zone reported Mar. 16 will increase indicated resources for inclusion in the study and add to the attractiveness of a starter pit estimated to pay back the full pre-production capital cost of the project within two years, the company said.

De Grey also intends to leverage what it has learned at Hemi to make other discoveries on its 1,500-sq.-km landholdings.

De Grey Mining has a market capitalization of A$2.5 billion.

Endurance Gold

On Jan. 12 Vancouver-based Endurance Gold (TSXV: EDG; US-OTC: ENDGF) reported significant gold intersections at its Reliance gold project in British Columbia from last year’s drill program. Recently reported assay results from the company’s 71-hole, 10,729-metre 2022 drill campaign include intersections of 16.99 grams gold per tonne over 3.7 metres from a downhole depth of 78 metres and 2.8 grams gold over 4.2 metres.

The project consists of three separate option deals, including the original Reliance option signed in 2019 and the Olympic and Sanchez options signed last year, giving Endurance the right to earn 100% of claims collectively encompassing 32.5 sq. km. The Olympic option includes the former producing Minto mine which produced 79,000 tonnes of ore from 1934 to 1937 with an average recovered grade of 6.9 grams gold.

Reliance is located 4 km east of Gold Bridge, British Columbia and 10 km north of the historic Bralorne-Pioneer gold mining camp.

From 2020 to 2022, the company conducted a multi-faceted exploration program at Reliance, including airborne and ground magnetic surveys, an airborne LiDAR survey, a ground 3-D IP survey, geological mapping, soil sampling, channel sampling and both diamond and reverse-circulation drilling.

To fund activity at the project, Endurance raised $5.1 million in equity financing last year, plus an additional $900,000 through the exercise of warrants and share options.

Plans for 2023 include step-out and infill drilling in established zones as well as geochemical and surface sampling along the project’s several structural trends to define the extent of anomalies and define new drill targets.

Endurance Gold’s portfolio also includes the Elephant Mountain and McCord gold projects in Alaska, the Bandito niobium project in the Yukon and the Flint Lake gold JV, 58 km southeast of Kenora in northern Ontario. It also has a 2% net smelter return royalty from GFG Resources’ (TSXV: GFG; US-OTC: GFGSF) Rattlesnake Hills project in Wyoming, a 2.5% NSR from First Mining Gold’s (TSX: FF; US-OTC: FFMGF) Dogpaw Lake project in northern Ontario and a small shareholding in Inventus Mining (TSXV: IVS) which owns the Pardo project, 65 km northeast of Sudbury.

Endurance Gold has a market capitalization of $33.5 million.

Omai Gold Mines

In February, Omai Gold Mines (TSXV: OMG; US-OTC: OMGGF) announced the start of its 2023 drill program at its 100%-owned Omai gold project in Guyana. The property produced 3.7 million oz. of gold between 1993 and 2005 from two adjacent open pits. Acquired by Omai Gold in late 2020, the property includes the Wenot shear-hosted deposit and the adjacent intrusion-hosted Gilt Creek deposit, which lies below the past producing Fennell pit.

The 5,000-metre drill program is focused on targets along the prolific Wenot shear corridor and the expansion of the Wenot deposit along strike and at depth. A geophysicist with magnetic-inversion modelling expertise used airborne data to help with the selection of targets near the Wenot and Gilt Creek deposits. The Broccoli Hill target is located immediately east of Gilt Creek, the Boneyard target lies several hundred metres north of the Wenot shear corridor and the Pyramid target is 2 km east of the Wenot pit.

Following 16,650 metres of drilling in 2021 and 2022, the company released a resource estimate last October. Omai now holds 1.9 million oz. gold in the indicated category in 28.7 million tonnes grading 2.05 grams gold per tonne. Another 1.8 million inferred oz. is in 26.3 million tonnes grading 2.1 grams gold. Assay highlights from the 2022 drill program included 5.01 grams gold per tonne over 8.5 metres and 37.83 grams gold over 2 metres announced May 27. Drilling to date has established that the Wenot shear zone extends 900 metres west of the Wenot deposit and 400 metres to the east, resulting in an exploration target 2.7 km long, up to 300 metres wide and 450 metres deep.

Omai has an 18.6 sq.-km prospecting licence held by its subsidiary, Avalon Gold Exploration, and two mining permits totalling 6.1 sq. km for medium-scale operations held through a contractual agreement with a Guyanese company.

The property is located 165 km southwest of Georgetown and accessed via a road scheduled to be paved to within 10 km of the site by December 2024.

Toronto-based Omai Gold has a market capitalization of $24.6 million.

Nevada King Gold

Nevada King Gold (TSXV: NKG; US-OTC: NKGFF) has announced an expansion of its current phase two resource expansion and definition drilling program at its 51.6-sq.-km Atlanta Gold Mine project in Nevada’s prolific Battle Mountain Trend. The expansion of the phase two drill program to 30,000 metres is the result of encouraging assay results of 1.38 grams gold per tonne over 96 metres and 9.9 grams gold over 27.4 metres, including 17.6 grams gold over 12.2 metres announced Jan. 17.

Nevada King’s100%-owned Atlanta Gold Mine project, located 100 km southeast of Ely and 264 km northeast of Las Vegas, produced 110,000 oz. of gold and 800,000 oz. of silver from 1.5 million tons of ore between 1975 and 1985. A 2020 resource estimate pegged measured and indicated resources at 11 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams gold per tonne for 460,000 ounces. Inferred resources add 5.3 million tonnes grading 0.83 gram gold for 142,000 ounces.

Nevada King began acquiring properties along the Battle Mountain Trend in 2016 and currently holds 10,315 lode claims covering 834.9 sq. km, making it the third largest mineral hard rock claim holder in the state of Nevada behind Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) and Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture of Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX; NYSE: GOLD) and Newmont Gold (TSX: NGT; NYSE: NEM

The company has focused its efforts on developing district-sized projects close to current mines and resources and has acquired a majority of the ground it owns via staking to avoid underlying net smelter royalties, option payments and work commitments. Approximately half of the company’s claims are located in the heart of the Battle Mountain Trend near the Cortez, Pipeline, Phoenix and Lone Tree Mines.

Nevada King’s extensive land holdings include the Lewis property adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines’ Hilltop deposit, the Horse Mountain-Mill Creek project adjoining a Nevada Gold Mines exploration project, and the Iron Point property at the intersection of the Battle Mountain-Cortez and Getchell-Twin Creeks gold trends.

Nevada King Gold has a market capitalization of $104.5 million.

Probe Gold

Probe Gold (TSX: PRB; US-OTC: PROBF) announced an updated resource for its Monique deposit, the company’s focus of interest at its Novador project in Quebec’s Val d’Or mining camp, in January. The project hosts 2 million oz. gold in the indicated category (41.8 million tonnes grading 1.52 grams gold per tonne) and 357,200 oz. inferred (2.4 million tonnes at 1.65 grams gold), combining both open pit and underground resources. The new estimate represents a 78% increase in total resources, a tripling of indicated ounces and the consolidation of several mining areas into a single open pit.

The Monique property consists of 21 claims and one mining lease covering 5.5 sq. km in Louvicourt township, 25 km east of Val d’Or.

Two additional resource updates – for the company’s nearby Pascalis and Courvan deposits – are scheduled for release this spring.

Probe Gold, which graduated to the Toronto Stock Exchange Jan. 27, began assembling property in the Val d’Or camp in 2016, one year after the $526-million sale of predecessor company Probe Mines and its Borden Lake gold property near Chapleau, Ont., to Goldcorp (now part of Newmont [TSX: NMC; NYSE: NEM]). David Palmer, winner of the PDAC’s Bill Dennis Prospector of the Year Award for the Borden Lake discovery, served as president and CEO of Probe Mines and continues in that role with Probe Gold.

The company’s 436-sq.-km land package in the Val-d’Or area represents one of the largest land holdings in the camp and includes three past producing mines. Probe completed 167,000 metres of drilling at its Novador project in 2022 and is currently conducting a 53,000-metre resource expansion and exploration drill program.

A 2021 preliminary economic assessment for Novador (then Val-d’Or East) reported an NPV of $598 million (at a 5% discount rate), an IRR of 32.8%, annual gold production of 207,000 oz. over a 12.5-year mine life and an initial capex of $353 million.

Probe is also exploring the early-stage, 777-sq.-km Detour Quebec project where it announced on Dec. 6, 2022 an unexpected discovery of a large copper-gold-silver-molybdenum mineralized system on the La Peltrie property optioned from Midland Exploration (TSXV: MD). A 7,000-metre follow-up drill program at the site of the discovery is planned to start in June.

Probe Gold has a market capitalization of $222.7 million.

Sanu Gold

Sanu Gold (CSE: SANU; US-OTC: SNGCF) has started a 25,000-metre reverse-circulation drill program at its three projects in Guinea’s Siguiri Basin. The Vancouver-based company acquired a 51% interest in the Daina, Diguifara and Bantabaye gold exploration permits from its Guinean partner companies in September 2022 and has the right to acquire up to an 85% interest in the permits by funding a staged work program and completing a definitive feasibility study.

Of the total, 10,000 metres of drilling will focus on the Daina 2 Main Zone discovery where assay results from a 3,675-metre, 42-hole drill program last year included intersections of 5.48 grams gold per tonne over 15 metres and 4.75 grams gold over 21 metres. Exploration activity in 2022 also included property-wide termite mound sampling, geochemical analysis of rock chip samples and auger drilling on all three projects.

The Siguiri Basin is host to several established world-class gold mines and discoveries, including AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU) Siguiri mine, which has been in operation for more than 20 years, and Predictive Discovery’s (ASX: PDI) multi-million-ounce Bankan gold project. Sanu Gold’s three exploration permits cover a 280-sq.-km area in the Siguiri Basin.

The 2023 exploration program will also include 10,000 metres of drilling on the company’s flagship Bantabaye project located on the western edge of the Siguiri Basin where it is targeting large, near-surface structurally hosted gold deposits identified in 2022 from bedrock samples grading up to 18.3 grams gold per tonne. The Bantabaye project covers an area of 100 sq. km approximately 50 km southwest of Nordgold Group’s Lefa gold mine, one of Guinea’s largest gold producers, and 90 km north of Predictive Discovery’s Bankan project.

Sanu has raised $9.6 million ­– $6.6 million prior to listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange in July 2022 and $3 million from a non-brokered private placement that closed in February.

Sanu Gold has a market capitalization of $14.5 million.