Ask a mining investor about gold in Idahoand Midas Gold (MAX-Tt) will likely be the first name that pops to mind. The company has put itself at the forefront of the conversation by proving up 5.8 million oz. of the yellow metal at its Golden Meadows project which sits roughly 153 km northeast of the state capital Boise.
But what can get lost with all the focus on Midas is that many more junior explorers are scouring every corner of the state looking for the next big find.
The rush came about as miners re-discovered the state and the State rediscovered miners. With its traditional industries of forestry and ski tourism on the decline, the government inBoisehas made big strides towards creating one of the most mining-friendly jurisdictions around. Its progress can be measured by its ranking fifth in the latest ranking by the Fraser Institute of the world’s best jurisdictions for miners.
So let’s take a look at some junior miners listed inTorontothat have their flagship project located in the state.
West of Midas and its Golden Meadows project is Terraco Gold (TEN-V) with its flagship project, Almaden.
The project sits 126 km northwest of Boise and has measured resources in three areas of 9.8 million tonnes grading 0.8 gram gold for 239,000 oz. gold; 29 million tonnes of 0.7 gram gold for 625,000 oz. gold; and 4.7 million tonnes of 0.6 gram gold for 84,000 oz. gold.
Those resources are divided between the main zone and the smaller North zone, but both zones resources occur within 90 metres of the surface.
And while shallow depth mineralization has its cost advantages when it comes to extraction, the company is digging deeper for higher grades.
Bonanza grade gold has been found at the 150- to 200-metre levels thanks to what is being interpreted as a high-grade feeder system similar to that found at Golden Meadows.
In December of last year, the company received a $5-million cash infusion by selling a 1% net smelter return royalty on its Moonlight project inNevadaand 0.5% NSR on Almaden.
Terraco has 168.2 million shares on a fully diluted basis and its share price has moved within a 26-29¢ range so far in February.
Northeast of Golden Meadows, Premium Exploration (PEM-V) holds the Idaho Gold project, some 384 km northeast ofBoise.
The project covers 180 sq. km along 30 km of the Orogrande shear zone in the north-central part of the state, and is home to eight gold discoveries.
Premium says it is focused on growing gold resources, and if recent history is any evidence, it has been doing a decent job of it. The company grew inferred resource to 879,000 oz. gold in 2011, which was up from the 549,000 oz. it had outlined the year previous, and the deposit remains open along strike and at depth.
The resource is divided between the Main and the North & South zones with the Main zone holding indicated resources of 11.8 million tonnes grading 0.9 gram gold for 343,000 oz. gold and inferred resources of 26.4 million tonnes at 1.04 grams gold for 779,000 oz. gold. The North & South zone has inferred resources of 3.9 million tonnes at 0.8 gram gold for 100,000 oz. gold.
Premium has done early stage metallurgical test work which shows oxides having an average recovery rate of 89.5%, while sulphide recoveries came in above 80%.
The company has roughly $2 million in cash and on a fully diluted basis has 157.5 million shares. Its shares have traded between 14¢ and 17¢ for February.
Sitting east of Golden Meadows and 413 km east of Boise is Otis Gold’s (OOO-V) advanced-stage Kilgore gold, which hosts indicated resources of 7 million indicated tonnes at 1.06 grams gold for 218,000 oz. gold, plus 9.7 million inferred tonnes at 0.96 gram gold for 269,000 oz. gold.
The project is made up of three areas of interest: the Mine Ridge deposit, the Gold Ridge target and the Prospect Ridge target. Otis says it believes Prospect and Mine Ridge could connect at greater depths and it is doing additional drilling this year to test the hypothesis.
It also plans to update its resource estimate at Mine Ridge and push ahead on a scoping study.
Otis had $2.5 million in cash as of last September and 55.1 million shares on a fully diluted basis. Its shares have traded between 19 and 24¢ in February thus far.
But lest investors think gold only occurs in the northern half of the state, Atlanta Gold (ATG-V) has the Atlanta Gold project, which lies south of Golden Meadows and 90 km east of Boise.
The Atlanta Gold site hosts historic mines that dating back to the 1860s that have so far pumped out 297,000 oz. gold and 2.6 million oz. silver.
A recently released resource update outlined indicated resources of 7 million tonnes of 3.32 grams gold and 7.32 grams silver for 785,000 gold equivalent oz., plus an inferred resources of 2.4 million tonnes of 4.87 grams gold and 7.52 grams silver for 397,300 gold equivalent oz.
Those resources are divided between underground and open-pit, with open-pit indicated resources grading an average 3.13 grams gold and underground resources grading 5.4 grams gold
Atlantaplans to drill the mainAtlantashear below historic high-grade mine workings so that it can outline a project that blends shallow open-pit mining with underground production.
Atlantaplans to have an updated resource estimate and scoping study done this year.
The company had $615,000 in cash as of Sept. 30 and 335.3 million shares on a fully diluted basis. Its share price has fluctuated between 5¢ and 6.5¢ through February thus far.
Much farther south of Golden Meadows is Western Pacific Resources’ (WRP-V) early stage Mineral Gulch gold project.
The property sits 356 km southeast of Boise on the Long Canyon and Bald Mountain trend that runs northeast out of Nevada and into Idaho.
Gulch was home to the past-producing Black Pine gold mine, which has been out of production since 1996. The mine was run by Pegasus Gold and had an average gold grade of 1 gram per tonne, a strip ratio of just 0.47 to 1 and recoveries of 64%.Orewas mined from six pits, which still remain on site, and are spread out over a 2.8-km trend.
This year Western Pacific plans to spend $7 million on roughly 35,000 metres of drilling and geophysical work.
The project has a non-compliant historic resource of un-mined “ore” of roughly 31.7 million tonnes with grades ranging between 0.44 gram and 0.59 gram gold per tonne for 451,400 oz. gold
Western Pacific has $3.25 million in cash and 37.1 million shares issued on a fully diluted basis. Its share price has moved between 33-35¢ in February.
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