Thesis Gold gains on new resource hiking Lawyers-Ranch tonnage in B.C.’s Toodoggone area

Thesis Gold (TSXV: TAU; US-OTC: THSGF) says an updated resource at the combined Lawyers-Ranch gold silver project in British Columbia increases the tonnage by nearly a third compared with a 2022 estimate on just Lawyers. The shares rose 14%.

The 495-sq.-km project in north-central B.C. holds 82 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 1.1 grams gold per tonne and 31.9 grams silver for 2.9 million oz. gold, 84 million oz. silver and 3,000 tonnes copper, Thesis said on Wednesday. The inferred amount is 12.4 million tonnes at 1.48 grams gold, 20.9 grams silver and 0.06% copper for 590,000 oz. gold 8.3 million oz. silver and 8,000 tonnes copper, it said.

Total tonnage is 94.4 million tonnes, a 31% increase from 67.4 million measured and indicated tonnes and 4.9 inferred tonnes in a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of Lawyers issued in June two years ago. The company plans to issue a revised PEA in the third quarter for the combined project southeast of Dease Lake.

“We’re on track, with a 32% increase in gold-equivalent ounces, identification of higher-grade zones, and a revised mine plan that positions the project to deliver substantial improvements on already strong economics,” president and CEO Ewan Webster said in the release. “There is the opportunity to develop much higher-grade starter pits to jump-start production and reduce the pay-back period.”

Shares in Thesis Gold added 10¢ apiece on Wednesday morning to trade 82¢, valuing the company at $144 million. Over the last year the company has traded in a range of 37¢ to $1.

Benchmark Metals

Thesis merged with Benchmark Metals last year to become one of the Toodoggone mining district’s largest explorers. Benchmark was developing Lawyers before the tie-up. Centerra Gold (TSX: CG; NYSE: CGAU) has the Kemess mine while Amarc Resources (TSXV: AHR; US-OTC: AXREF) and Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) are developing the Joy property in the area about 750 km north of Vancouver.

Lawyers-Ranch holds 4 million gold-equivalent oz. in the new resource grading 1.51 grams gold equivalent calculated using an 80 to 1 silver-to-gold ratio and metal prices of US$1,850 per oz. gold and US$24 per oz. silver, the company said.

The estimate outlines pit-constrained resources, defined by a conceptual pit at a cut-off grade of 0.4 gram gold-equivalent and out-of-pit resources that have a cut-off grade of 1.5 grams gold-equivalent, Thesis said.

Pits and underground

“While they are indicative of the potentially mineable mineral resources through conceptual open-pit and underground mining methods, this will be determined through a cross-over analysis in the upcoming updated PEA,” the company said. “The cross-over analysis will assess the most advantageous depths for transitioning from open-pit to underground mining methods to enhance economic efficiency.”

Drilling at Lawyers suggests that higher grade material is at the bottom of the conceptual pit area and extends below into the out-of-pit zone at Cliffs Creek and Dukes Ridge, where underground mining could allow production earlier in the mine life, Thesis said. Ranch shows an opportunity to start output from higher-grade starter pits with near-surface, high-grade material, it said.

Thesis has identified more than 20 drill targets for exploration this year, it said.

A mine at Lawyers could cost $493 million to build, according to the 2022 PEA. It could have annual production of 169,000 gold-equivalent oz. over a 12-year mine life at all-in sustaining costs net of by-products of US$824 per oz., the study showed.