Thursday, 1 December 2022

TNR Gold in the Alaskan Elephant Country: "NOVAGOLD, Barrick Gold Drill 30.68g/t Gold Over 42.28 Metres at Donlin Gold, Alaska"



My belief is TNR's Shotgun Gold Project can potentially grow and become a foremost, immediate satellite site Gold deposit to Donlin Gold's Mining Camp infrastructure. This vision is based on our exploration work and academic studies like the ones from Dr Tim Baker in which Shotgun Gold Project is not only listed alongside Donlin Creek as one of the "Major Porphyry Gold Deposits" but is also projected to contain the similar porphyry intrusion-related type system as Donlin. 


Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman

TNR Gold Corp.

 


Resource World reports another set of spectacular results for Barrick Gold and NOVAGOLD from the giant Donlin Gold project in Alaska. It is very encouraging to see that the high-grade intercepts at Donlin Gold come from a deeper depth than any drill holes at the TNR Gold's Shotgun Ridge.  

"DC22-2068 intersected 42.28 metres grading 30.68 g/t gold starting at 117.52 metres drilled depth, including a sub-interval of 23.16 metres grading 54.22 g/t gold starting at 124.97 metres drilled depth; the drill-hole is sub-parallel to a mineralized intrusive and the true widths of the interval and sub-interval are estimated to be 29 metres and 16 metres, respectively." Resource World

 


"Barrick President and CEO Mark Bristow said: “I am encouraged by the progress that we are making at Donlin and in particular the understanding that our teams are accruing with regards to the orebodies and associated mineralization. Our recent workshop in Anchorage which also involved meetings with our Native Corporation partners, and the visit to the project helped us to set priorities for the next steps towards optimization work and studies.”

Greg Lang, NOVAGOLD’s President and CEO, said: “The 2022 drill campaign has proven rewarding for all of us at NOVAGOLD. The latest set of assays reported have delivered outstanding gold intercepts, especially for an open pit deposit that include, among others, drill hole DC22-2068 that intersected 42.28 metres grading 30.68 g/t gold, with a sub-interval of 23.16 metres grading 54.22 g/t gold located in the Divide domain which overlaps both the ACMA and Lewis deposits, making it one of the most significant intercepts in terms of grade-thickness ever reported at the Donlin Gold project.” Resource World



Please note on the slide above the vertical depth of the drill holes at the TNR Gold's Shotgun Ridge and that they have ended in Gold mineralisation. Any potential Gold mineralisation at the deeper levels may potentially increase the size of the inferred resource identified only at this one target of the Shotgun Gold Project.


Only one of 5 identified drill-ready targets has been tested at the Shotgun Gold. "Shotgun Ridge alone shows the potential to host multiple, closely spaced Gold deposits". 


TNR Gold started the new exploration program this year and is actively introducing Shotgun Gold to potential partners to decisively drill the entirety of these prospects. The objective of such a partnership would be to expand the known area of mineralisation, define new mineralised areas and conclusively assess the Project’s potential top-end valuation.






Please read my legal disclaimer. There is NO investment advice on any Kirill Klip feeds and blogs. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. 
Do Your Own Research.




Proactive:

TNR Gold’s Shotgun Project In Alaska Has All The Trappings And Trimmings It Takes To Attract In A Major

Alastair Ford



"TNR Gold’s track record of successful deals with majors like Ganfeng and McEwen Mining should stand it in good stead as manoeuvring continues on the Tintina gold belt.



“I believe the Shotgun gold project could become one of the main satellite gold projects of the Donlin gold camp,” says Kirill Klip, the chief executive and largest shareholder of TNR Gold Corp (CVE:TNR).

Shotgun is the flagship asset of TNR, and is located to the south of Donlin, just inside the boundary of the famous Tintina gold belt which arcs right across Alaska.




It’s a gold belt that has proved prolific in delivering up sizeable discoveries over the years, and now boasts a serious number of major producing mines, including at their forefront, the Pogo mine, owned by Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) and the Fort Knox mine, owned by Kinross (TSE:K).




But Donlin takes things to another level again.

With its 39mln ounces of gold grading well over two grams per tonne, it’s one of the largest open pit deposits anywhere in the world.

Not surprising then that one of the biggest names in the industry, Barrick Gold (TSE:ABX), is playing a crucial role in bringing it on, alongside partner NovaGold (TSE:NG).

Will these two stay as partners for the duration, or will Barrick step in and buy out NovaGold?



Or, for that matter, will a third party, like Newmont, show up late at the party and try to initiate some sort of division of the spoils with Barrick along the lines of the current hard-won arrangement in Nevada?

These are matters for speculation just at the minute, but it might not be long before we see tangible corporate action.

And it’s not altogether out of the question that Shotgun will get caught up in it too.

After all, TNR has plenty of form in forming strong alliances with the world’s leading mining companies.



In an earlier phase of its existence it made two major discoveries in Argentina, the Los Azules copper project, now being brought forward by McEwen Mining (TSE:MUX), and the Mariana lithium project, now being brought forward by Ganfeng Lithium. After some adroit deal-making TNR managed to retain substantial royalties in these projects, such that when they come on stream it’s likely that Los Azules will contribute upwards of US$3.5mln per year to the TNR coffers, with Mariana providing a further US$1mln. However, the latter estimate was made by the analyst before Ganfeng  announced an increase of the lithium resource at Mariana of more than 250%.



This background of successful deal-making with majors ought to provide TNR with a real advantage when it comes to assessing options for Shotgun in the coming months.

To some degree, it’s a fairly simple exercise for investors to form an idea of what the future holds, but in the case of Shotgun Klip is keen that TNR ends up retaining a 25% interest, rather than just a royalty.

In this, he does have some room for manoeuvre, because Shotgun isn’t just another piece of prospective ground. Rather, the project already boasts an inferred resource of over 700,000 ounces of gold at Shotgun Ridge, and shows every sign of being able to deliver a markedly larger total than that, once the next major exploration programme delivers its results.



Shotgun Ridge is just one of multiple gold target areas controlled by TNR Gold. ‘Shot’, ‘King’ and ‘Winchester’ add to the collection to form a distinct gold district with five  separate targets identified so far

When that will be though is the big question.

To take Shotgun up to the next level, Klip is clear that a major exploration spend is required – upwards of US$5mln and ideally closer to US$10mln. On one scenario he could go into the market and raise that money himself.

But here’s where his position as a major shareholder in the company becomes key.

“Even a US$5mln raise would be very dilutive to all our shareholders at this stage and will not guarantee success,” he says.

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

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 the 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 Donlin.



An academic study conducted in 2001 by Lang & Baker specifically identifies both projects as ‘major porphyry granite related gold deposits’ related to a singular widespread magmatic gold mineralising event that constitutes this horseshoe-like region.

The implication is that both projects arose from the same geographical kitchen sink, leading to the reasonable supposition that they should possess similar favourable geological properties. 



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

Shotgun’s particular boon is in the details. Shotgun’s mineralisation has been shown  to possess little-to-no ‘nugget effect’. A high ‘nugget effect’ means high variability between samples that are closely spaced. ‘No nugget effect’ implies a tight and uniform mineralisation of a bulk tonnage gold system. So there’s no need to dig up empty rock space as one does when chasing a vein so the stripping ratio for any mine will be low, keeping costs down.



Among the notable intercepts already banked, the company boasts 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.



“I’m in the business to get the maximum out of this new gold bull market. We’ve been waiting for it for nearly ten years after 2011. I just need to get the best deal,” says Klip

“We are not dreamers. 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.”



Not for him as a shareholder the dilutive effects of repeated equity fundings to support exploration. His favored option – of bringing a major in – would in the end, he calculates, mean that current shareholders end up retaining more of the project, and hence more of the value, in the long-term.

Will the strategy work?

Well, it already shows every sign of doing so.

“A deal could happen any day,” says Klip.

“Literally. We are seeing interest. But we are not in any hurry. The interest at the moment is from mid-sized companies. I do not like to commit to shallow money with sums that look great on paper but come from parties that lack the appropriate technical and financial depth with consistent follow-through in the years following the deal. We hold the high ground. We want to be patient and attract the best of the best, like we did with Ganfeng Lithium years ago - one of the top gold major company to make sure that we can get the absolute most of Shotgun’s resources in development.”



For now, the company is actively introducing Shotgun Gold to potential partners and is much more open to drilling the entirety of these prospects in a strong fashion so that it can expand the known area of mineralisation and conclusively assess the project’s top-end valuation. 

And it’s in this context that the royalty portfolio cleaves once more into view. These are serious assets, and they promise cashflow in the near-term. There’s significant value in the company on their strength alone. All of which means that TNR isn’t like some other juniors, desperately lurching from one equity raise to the next simply to keep going. There’s far more to it than that. In fact, there’s a carefully thought out strategy that looks likely to reap significant benefits for shareholders in the near-to-medium term."





Please read my legal disclaimer. There is NO investment advice on any Kirill Klip feeds and blog. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. 
Do Your Own Research.


Resource World:

NOVAGOLD, Barrick drill 30.68g/t gold over 42.28 metres at Donlin, Alaska; shares up

Donlin Gold LLC, owned 50/50 by Barrick Gold Corp. [ABX-TSX; GOLD-NYSE] and NOVAGOLD Resources Inc. [NG-TSX, NYSE American], has released additional assay results from the 2022 drill program at the Donlin gold project 450 km northwest of Anchorage, Alaska, including 64 completed drill holes plus partial results for nine holes.

The drilling was completed ahead of schedule in September, with assay results received to date representing approximately 70% or 29,600 metres of drilling. During the 2022 drill program, 141 exploration drill holes were completed at 42,331 metres, with the final assay results expected to be released in early 2023

With these additional assay results, the owners are advancing Donlin Gold up the value chain and are working toward a feasibility study decision

Barrick President and CEO Mark Bristow said: “I am encouraged by the progress that we are making at Donlin and in particular the understanding that our teams are accruing with regards to the orebodies and associated mineralization. Our recent workshop in Anchorage which also involved meetings with our Native Corporation partners, and the visit to the project helped us to set priorities for the next steps towards optimization work and studies.”

Greg Lang, NOVAGOLD’s President and CEO, said: “The 2022 drill campaign has proven rewarding for all of us at NOVAGOLD. The latest set of assays reported have delivered outstanding gold intercepts, especially for an open pit deposit that include, among others, drill hole DC22-2068 that intersected 42.28 metres grading 30.68 g/t gold, with a sub-interval of 23.16 metres grading 54.22 g/t gold located in the Divide domain which overlaps both the ACMA and Lewis deposits, making it one of the most significant intercepts in terms of grade-thickness ever reported at the Donlin Gold project.”

The prime focus of activities this year was to undertake a drill program of 42,331 metres with tight-spaced grid drilling in structural domains, in-pit and below-pit exploration in sparsely drilled areas, platform mapping to further confirm mineralization continuity and key geological controls in representative areas of the deposit with the results informing and supporting the global resource estimate, recent modelling concepts, and strategic mine planning work.

The tight-spaced grid drilling program was initiated in 2021, beginning in East ACMA and expanded into West ACMA, Divide, and Lewis in 2022. Along with results from the Divide and Lewis grids, this will enable the partners to determine the best path forward toward an updated feasibility study, subject to a formal decision by the Donlin Gold LLC Board.

DC22-2068 intersected 42.28 metres grading 30.68 g/t gold starting at 117.52 metres drilled depth, including a sub-interval of 23.16 metres grading 54.22 g/t gold starting at 124.97 metres drilled depth; the drill-hole is sub-parallel to a mineralized intrusive and the true widths of the interval and sub-interval are estimated to be 29 metres and 16 metres, respectively.

DC22-2077 intersected 48.96 metres grading 20.61 g/t gold starting at 150.11 metres drilled depth, including sub-intervals of 9.08 metres grading 13.27 g/t gold starting at 152.60 metres drilled depth and 31.29 metres grading 27.09 g/t gold starting at 167.78 metres drilled depth. The true widths of mineralization across this interval and sub-intervals are estimated to be 32 metres, 6 metres and 21 metres, respectively.

DC22-2063 intersected 60.96 metres grading 12.35 g/t gold starting at 236.22 metres drilled depth, including sub-intervals of 33.37 metres grading 13.80 g/t gold starting at 247.06 metres drilled depth and 8.79 metres grading 26.73 g/t gold starting at 287.15 metres drilled depth. The true widths of mineralization across this interval and sub-intervals are estimated to be 44, 24 and 6 metres, respectively.

DC22-2063 intersected 19.74 metres grading 34.17 g/t gold starting at 162.18 metres drilled depth, including a sub-interval of 11.35 metres grading 57.93 g/t gold starting at 165.38 metres drilled depth; the true widths of mineralization across this interval and sub-interval are estimated to be 13 metres and 8 metres, respectively.

DC22-2092 intersected 41.19 metres grading 6.64 g/t gold starting at 116.12 metres drilled depth, including a sub-interval of 8.51 metres grading 16.47 g/t gold starting at 147.47 metres drilled depth; the true widths of mineralization across this interval and sub-interval are estimated to be 29 metres and 6 metres, respectively.

Donlin Gold is a federally permitted project on private land with excellent and longstanding Native Corporation partners.

The 2022 expenditure for Donlin Gold LLC (on a 100% basis) is expected to be $64 million, split equally between the two owners. The Donlin Gold project has approximately 39 million ounces of gold grading 2.24 g/t gold in the measured and indicated mineral resource categories (100% basis).

In early morning trading 1Nov22, NOVAGOLD shares gained $0.15 to $6.44; Barrick shares gained $0.43 to $20.42."




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