TNR Shotgun Gold Project In The USA, Alaskan Elephant Country: "Barrick Gold CEO Warns Of Reserve Crisis".

We have further developments with Peak Gold Supply situation. Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow is prasing the ongoing consolidation in the Gold industry and warns about the Gold reserve crisis. 

Now this story is hitting headlines at Bloomberg and M&A activity in the Gold industry is heating up. You can follow our discussion about Shotgun Gold development strategy and my thoughts on the links below and, please, make your own research as usual. TNR Gold Story is getting noticed as well. 

Chart by NorthStar

Recent Kinross Gold M&A activity in Alaska brings new potential development strategy for the assets like Shotgun Gold during the consolidation of the resources in the Donlin Gold Mining District: 

"Today we have Peak Gold Supply in the spotlight again. Majors have to buy new Gold projects in order to replenish their resources in the pipeline for development. Kinross Gold is acquiring 70% of the Peak Gold project and putting all our Shotgun Gold development Story into the new light of potential developments now:

"CALGARY - Kinross Gold Corp. is moving to secure additional supply for its Alaska gold operations by buying a controlling interest in the Peak Gold project from Royal Gold, Inc., and Contango Ore, Inc., for $125 million.

Toronto-based Kinross has agreed to pay Royal Gold about $66 million for its entire 40 per cent stake and $59.6 million for half of Contango's 60 per cent share, leaving Contango with a minority 30 per cent holding.

The miner says it plans to process ore from the open-pit Peak Gold mine at its existing Fort Knox mine, 400 kilometres to the northwest, to reduce costs and extend the life of the existing mill and infrastructure." BNN Bloomberg.

Shotgun Gold Project is located 190 km south from Donlin Gold, where our shareholder NovaGold is developing this giant project together with Barrick Gold."

Warren Buffett investment into Barrick Gold brings more spotlight on the giant Donlin Gold development in Alaska in JV with TNR Gold shareholder Nova Gold: 

"In his recent interview on CNBC, Mark Bristow has acknowledged that even if the Barrick Gold’s official Gold price is still $1,200 for all planning purposes, “they are using now $1,500 as the indication for a mid-term time horizon.” It will not escape your attention that nobody will be buying out Barrick Gold, probably, this year, but they will have to buy themselves something big and promising. Who will be talking the Gold price up going into the M&A market as the buyer? 

 

All recent developments around NovaGold, which we have discussed in great detail with you here, are pointing us to the brave scientific question for a pure curiosity pleasure at this stage. Who will buy NovaGold first in the fight for the solid lead as the number 1 Gold mining company in the world? Will it be Newmont Mining or will Mark Bristow conclude the “unfinished business” of the previous unsuccessful buy out attempt and will finally bring Donlin Gold “back home”? In the world moving super crazy fast into the $3,000 Gold as a new normal, for me, this is just a question of time now. Nor Barrick Gold neither Newmont Mining can afford to lose Donlin Gold to each other without a walk over effectively from the race for the crown of the world’s top Gold miner."

 

CEO Mark Bristow has confirmed that Donlin Gold is the key asset for Barrick Gold and that they like what they see in the largest drilling program to date on the property. The decision about $22 billion new railway connecting Alaska and Alberta will bring new infrastructure development to Alaska adding another piece of the puzzle to the making of the Major Gold Mining Camps on the US soil. 

Now you can make your own research on TNR Gold and our Shotgun Gold Project and find out why I am acquiring shares in our Company at every opportunity I have and why NovaGold is holding a stake in TNR Gold. Links on the article will allow you to go as deep as you like for your own research. Buckle up and stay safe during your journey! Join and follow TNR Gold. 

"And, given the attractiveness of the third string to TNR’s bow – the Shotgun Gold project in Alaska, the company is still very definitely an exploration company.

Indeed, according to Kirill Klip, the company’s chief executive, the main focus of effort over the coming months is likely to be on moving Shotgun forward to the point where a major company moves in and begins to help with development work there.

So, is this the same model that proved so successful with Los Azules and Mariana?

Not quite. This time round, with two potentially cash generative royalties in its back pocket, TNR is in a slightly stronger position. Klip’s aspiration this time round is for TNR to retain a much larger stake. The near-term goals are simple enough.

“We need to bring US$10mln in to drill the project very strongly,” says Klip.

 

“The first US$5mln to take the project from the current 700,000 ounce resource up to the two million ounce mark, the rest to drill out five nearby targets. There’s no reason to suppose that our ground cannot hold multiple mineralised systems.”

At Shotgun the thinking is that there may be upwards of five million ounces of gold in the ground, and there is precedent. At this stage the geology shows remarkable similarity to the 39mln ounce Donlin gold project in southern Alaska, which is owned jointly by Novagold Resources Inc (TSE:NG) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD).

“We are talking about a high tonnage bulk system,” says Klip. “There are no nuggets, it’s very uniform.”

 

 

Among the notable intercepts the company has 242 metres grading 1.25 grams gold per tonne, 209 metres at 1.02 grams, and just under 47 metres at 1.14 grams.

What’s more, the gold that’s been identified thus far sits at the top of a ridge, meaning that the stripping ratio for any mine will be low, which in turn will keep costs down. 

 

The upside is clear. Indeed, Novagold sees it well enough, since it retains a significant stake in TNR, and former Novagold director Greg Johnson now sits on the TNR board. How long it will take the rest of the market to wake up remains to be seen.

Nonetheless Klip is confident that this is a company that’s going places.

“We are not dreamers,” he says. “We did it with the copper. We did it with the lithium. I would like to make it even bigger with the gold. I would like to do better, to keep a 25% stake.”

 

Mining Weekly:

Barrick CEO warns of reserve crisis

"JOHANNESBURG/TORONTO – Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow on Wednesday said the gold industry in Africa should consolidate further, as he warned of a "serious reserve crisis" looming for the sector.

A dearth of exploration has seen average mine life across the gold mining sector fall from 20 years to closer to 10 years, he added, speaking at the Joburg Indaba mining conference. "The prospect of a serious reserve crisis is looming," said Bristow. Gold production across the industry has only increased by 1.6% every year for the past two decades, he said.

Bristow said this week's deal between Northern Star Resources and Saracen Mineral Holdings was a "great example" of industry consolidation that should be celebrated.

On Mali, where Barrick is among the biggest investors and operates the Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine, Bristow said the transition after an August military coup has been "very well" run. "Everyone agrees that 18 months for transition back to full civilian rule is doable, and that's ambitious," Bristow said, adding that "none of the organs of state has stopped functioning."Bristow again signalled his appetite for acquiring Freeport-McMoran's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world's biggest gold mine and second-biggest copper mine. "There are not a lot around, and so by deduction of course we remain interested in being able to add to our portfolio any tier 1 asset out there," he said.

Bristow said he has no doubt the company will be able to repatriate $500-million which belongs to its Kibali joint venture in the Congo. "That paperwork is far down the road," he said. At the start of July, Bristow had said the money would be cleared to leave the country "very soon". "There's a fundamental recognition that to continue to attract investors into the DRC, you have to give them the right to repatriate their profits," he said. "