Tuesday 31 October 2023

TNR Gold Welcomes Further Investment in McEwen Copper's Los Azules Project by Rio Tinto's Nuton


“We are pleased that significant developments on the advancement of the Los Azules Copper Project towards feasibility have led to the increased Stellantis holdings in McEwen Copper, as a strategic partner in the future development of this giant copper, gold and silver project. 


In February 2023 Stellantis invested ARS $30 billion, and with this additional investment of ARS $42 billion, has a total investment of ARS $72 billion. 



An investment of US $10 million in McEwen Copper was also invested by Rio Tinto’s Venture Nuton after its initial US $25 million investments in 2022 and US $30 million in 2023,” stated Kirill Klip, TNR’s Chief Executive Officer.



“TNR Gold’s vision is aligned with the leaders of innovation among automakers like Stellantis, whose aim is decarbonizing mobility, and mining industry leaders like Rob McEwen’s vision ‘to build a mine for the future, based on regenerative principles that can achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2038’.



The green energy rEVolution relies on the supply of critical metals like copper; delivering “green copper” to Argentina and the world will contribute to the clean energy transition and electrification of transportation and energy industries.



Strong team performance is accelerating the McEwen Copper Los Azules program in 2023. The Los Azules Project preliminary economic assessment (PEA) results highlighted the potential to create very robust leach project, while reducing environmental footprint, and greater environmental and social stewardship sets the Project apart from other potential mine developments.



It’s very encouraging to see an updated independent mineral resource estimate that has increased significantly.



Together with Nuton, McEwen Copper is exploring new technologies that save energy, water, time and capital, advancing Los Azules towards the goal of the leading environmental performance. The involvement of Rio Tinto with its innovative technology, may also accelerate realizing the enormous potential of the Los Azules Project.



Los Azules was ranked in the top 10 largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world by Mining Intelligence (2022). TNR Gold does not have to contribute any capital for the development of the Los Azules Project. The essence of our business model is to have industry leaders like McEwen Mining as operators on the projects that will potentially generate royalty cashflows to contribute significant value for our shareholders.”






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.




TNR Gold:

NEWS RELEASE

TNR Gold NSR Royalty Update – Los Azules Copper, Gold and Silver Project – McEwen Copper Announces $10 Million Additional Investment by Nuton, a Rio Tinto Venture

"Vancouver, British Columbia – October 18, 2023: TNR Gold Corp. (TSX-V: TNR) (“TNR”, “TNR Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that McEwen Mining Inc. (“McEwen Mining”) has provided a significant financing update on the Los Azules copper, gold and silver project in San Juan, Argentina. TNR holds a 0.4% net smelter returns royalty (“NSR Royalty”) (of which 0.04% of the 0.4% NSR Royalty is held on behalf of a shareholder) on the Los Azules Copper Project. The Los Azules project is held by McEwen Copper Inc. (“McEwen Copper”), a subsidiary of McEwen Mining.



The news release issued on October 11, 2023, by McEwen Mining stated:

“McEwen Copper Inc., a subsidiary of McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE,TSX), is pleased to announce a binding agreement for an additional $10.0 million investment by Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto Venture, and existing McEwen Copper shareholder.

Nuton has agreed to invest US$10.0 million to acquire shares of McEwen Copper in a two-part transaction expected to close by October 19, 2023 (the “Nuton Transaction”) consisting of a private placement of 152,615 McEwen Copper common shares, and the purchase of 232,000 common shares owned by McEwen Mining in a secondary sale. Proceeds of the subscription and purchase are expected to be approximately $4.0 million to McEwen Copper and $6.0 million to McEwen Mining, respectively. The proceeds of the private placement will be used to advance the development of the Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina, and for general corporate purposes.

After closing, Nuton will own 14.5% of McEwen Copper on a fully diluted basis, and McEwen Mining will own 47.7%. The transaction values McEwen Copper at approximately US$800 million.

In connection with the transaction, McEwen Copper and certain of its affiliates agreed to amend the Nuton Collaboration Agreement to extend the period of exclusivity over novel, trade secret or patented copper heap leach technologies until February 1, 2025.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Nuton

Nuton is an innovative new venture that aims to help grow Rio Tinto’s copper business. At the core of Nuton is a portfolio of proprietary copper leach-related technologies and capability – a product of almost 30 years of research and development. Nuton Technologies offer the potential to economically unlock copper sulphide resources, copper bearing waste and tailings, and achieve higher copper recoveries on oxide and transitional material, allowing for a significantly increased copper production. One of the key differentiators of Nuton is the potential to deliver leading environmental performance, including more efficient water usage, lower carbon emissions, and the ability to reclaim mine sites by reprocessing mine waste.




About McEwen Copper

McEwen Copper Inc. holds a 100% interest in the Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina and the Elder Creek project in Nevada, USA.

Los Azules was ranked in the top 10 largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world by Mining Intelligence (2022). Its current copper resources are estimated at 10.9 billion pounds at a grade of 0.40% Cu (Indicated category) and an additional 26.7 billion pounds at a grade of 0.31% Cu (Inferred category). A PEA published in June 2023 estimated a $2.7 billion after-tax NPV8% at $3.75/lb Cu and a 27-year mine life.

After closing the Stellantis investment, also announced today, and the pending investment by Nuton, McEwen Copper will have 30,937,615 common shares outstanding, and its shareholders are: McEwen Mining Inc. 47.7%, Stellantis 19.4%, Nuton 14.5%, Rob McEwen 12.9%, Victor Smorgon Group 3.2%, and other shareholders 2.3%.”

The McEwen Mining press release appears to be reviewed and verified by a Qualified Person (as that term is defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects) and the procedures, methodology and key assumptions disclosed therein are those adopted and consistently applied in the mining industry, but no Qualified Person engaged by TNR has done sufficient work to analyze, interpret, classify or verify McEwen Mining’s information to determine the current mineral resource or other information referred to in its press releases. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned in placing any reliance on the disclosures therein.



“We are pleased that significant developments on the advancement of the Los Azules Copper Project towards feasibility have led to the increased Stellantis holdings in McEwen Copper, as a strategic partner in the future development of this giant copper, gold and silver project. In February 2023 Stellantis invested ARS $30 billion, and with this additional investment of ARS $42 billion, has a total investment of ARS $72 billion. An investment of US $10 million in McEwen Copper was also invested by Rio Tinto’s Venture Nuton after its initial US $25 million investments in 2022 and US $30 million in 2023,” stated Kirill Klip, TNR’s Chief Executive Officer. “TNR Gold’s vision is aligned with the leaders of innovation among automakers like Stellantis, whose aim is decarbonizing mobility, and mining industry leaders like Rob McEwen’s vision ‘to build a mine for the future, based on regenerative principles that can achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2038’.

The green energy rEVolution relies on the supply of critical metals like copper; delivering “green copper” to Argentina and the world will contribute to the clean energy transition and electrification of transportation and energy industries.

Strong team performance is accelerating the McEwen Copper Los Azules program in 2023. The Los Azules Project preliminary economic assessment (PEA) results highlighted the potential to create very robust leach project, while reducing environmental footprint, and greater environmental and social stewardship sets the Project apart from other potential mine developments.

It’s very encouraging to see an updated independent mineral resource estimate that has increased significantly.

Together with Nuton, McEwen Copper is exploring new technologies that save energy, water, time and capital, advancing Los Azules towards the goal of the leading environmental performance. The involvement of Rio Tinto with its innovative technology, may also accelerate realizing the enormous potential of the Los Azules Project.

Los Azules was ranked in the top 10 largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world by Mining Intelligence (2022). TNR Gold does not have to contribute any capital for the development of the Los Azules Project. The essence of our business model is to have industry leaders like McEwen Mining as operators on the projects that will potentially generate royalty cashflows to contribute significant value for our shareholders.”



ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.

TNR Gold Corp. is working to become the green energy metals royalty and gold company.

Our business model provides a unique entry point in the creation of supply chains for critical materials like energy metals that are powering the energy rEVolution, and the gold industry that is providing a hedge for this stage of the economic cycle.

Our portfolio provides a unique combination of assets with exposure to multiple aspects of the mining cycle: the power of blue-sky discovery and important partnerships with industry leaders as operators on the projects that have the potential to generate royalty cashflows that will contribute significant value for our shareholders.

Over the past twenty-seven years, TNR, through its lead generator business model, has been successful in generating high-quality global exploration projects. With the Company’s expertise, resources and industry network, the potential of the Mariana Lithium Project and Los Azules Copper Project in Argentina among many others have been recognized.

TNR holds a 1.5% NSR Royalty on the Mariana Lithium Project in Argentina, of which 0.15% NSR royalty is held on behalf of a shareholder. Ganfeng Lithium’s subsidiary, Litio Minera Argentina (“LMA”), has the right to repurchase 1.0% of the NSR royalty on the Mariana Project, of which 0.9% is the Company’s NSR Royalty interest. The Company would receive CAN$900,000 and its shareholder would receive CAN$100,000 on the repurchase by LMA, resulting in TNR holding a 0.45% NSR royalty and its shareholder holding a 0.05% NSR royalty.

The Mariana Lithium Project is 100% owned by Ganfeng Lithium. The Mariana Lithium Project has been approved by the Argentina provincial government of Salta for an environmental impact report, and the construction of a 20,000 tons-per-annum lithium chloride plant has commenced.

TNR Gold also holds a 0.4% NSR Royalty on the Los Azules Copper Project, of which 0.04% of the 0.4% NSR royalty is held on behalf of a shareholder. The Los Azules Copper Project is being developed by McEwen Mining.

TNR also holds a 7% net profits royalty holding on the Batidero I and II properties of the Josemaria Project that is being developed by Lundin Mining. Lundin Mining is part of the Lundin Group, a portfolio of companies producing a variety of commodities in several countries worldwide.

TNR provides significant exposure to gold through its 90% holding in the Shotgun Gold porphyry project in Alaska. The project is located in Southwestern Alaska near the Donlin Gold project, which is being developed by Barrick Gold and Novagold Resources. The Company’s strategy with the Shotgun Gold Project is to attract a joint venture partnership with a major gold mining company. The Company is actively introducing the project to interested parties.

At its core, TNR provides a wide scope of exposure to gold, copper, silver and lithium through its holdings in Alaska (the Shotgun Gold porphyry project) and royalty holdings in Argentina (the Mariana Lithium project, the Los Azules Copper Project and the Batidero I & II properties of the Josemaria Project), and is committed to the continued generation of in-demand projects, while diversifying its markets and building shareholder value.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Kirill Klip
Executive Chairman
www.tnrgoldcorp.com

For further information concerning this news release please contact Kirill Klip +1 604-229-8129

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “will”, “could” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “could” occur, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements made in relation to: TNR’s corporate objectives, changes in share capital, market conditions for energy commodities, the results of McEwen Mining’s, Ganfeng Lithium’s and Lundin Mining’s preliminary economic assessments, Feasibility Study, or Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimations, life of mine estimates, and mine and mine closure plans and improvements in the financial performance of the Company. Such forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled “Risks” and “Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s interim and annual Management’s Discussion and Analysis which are available under the Company’s profile on www.sedarplus.ca. While management believes that the assumptions made and reflected in this news release are reasonable, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking information. In particular, there can be no assurance that: TNR will be able to repay its loans or complete any further royalty acquisitions or sales; debt or other financings will be available to TNR; or that TNR will be able to achieve any of its corporate objectives. TNR relies on the confirmation of its ownership for mining claims from the appropriate government agencies when paying rental payments for such mining claims requested by these agencies. There could be a risk in the future of the changing internal policies of such government agencies or risk related to the third parties challenging in the future the ownership of such mining claims. Given these uncertainties, readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements included herein are not guarantees of future performance, and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied on.

In formulating the forward-looking statements contained herein, management has assumed that business and economic conditions affecting TNR and its royalty partners, McEwen Mining Inc., Ganfeng Lithium and Lundin Mining will continue substantially in the ordinary course, including without limitation with respect to general industry conditions, general levels of economic activity and regulations. These assumptions, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect.

Forward-looking information herein and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions change."




Friday 27 October 2023

TNR Gold in the Alaskan Elephant Country: "Gold Is Going to Rebound, and When it Does the Rise Will Be Dramatic" - NOVAGOLD CEO


"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.



"Greg Lang, president and CEO of Novagold, discusses how development is proceeding on the Donlin gold project joint venture with Barrick Gold. Lang also speaks about what's pushing the gold price lower and when he expects to see a rebound." (BNN Bloomberg)




"Barrick Gold and NOVAGOLD report another set of spectacular results 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."




Gold - The Wake-Up Call, I Do Hope That the Move to $2,500, $5,000 and Over $10,000 Will Be Orderly





Gold is not celebrating wars and the annihilation of human life. The price of Gold is pointing to the obvious imbalances in the world governance and global financial system. We have another wake-up call, I do hope the inevitable rise of Gold price to $2,500, $5,000 and over $10,000 will be orderly. 



You can play the Deep Fake Video Games with Crypto only for so many years, the Deep Fake "Efficient Markets" like the Gold Market can be manipulated for decades, the illusion of your own choice to fight your own brothers to the last drop of your own blood for the elites has been cultivated for millennia. 



"Gold is coiling into the very powerful spring and knocking on the new all-time high "Heaven's Door". As with all generational Bull Markets, any price suppression and market manipulation can lead only to one thing: another opportunity to accumulate the best stories in the Gold mining junior space where new fortunes will be created in the next few years to come. Nobody knows the future, but history can teach us about manias and "irrational exuberance" spilling over from chasing Crypto Dragons into real assets and solid values that some junior miners can represent in the marketplace."

 

Chart by Nicholas Winton
 

Gold price action points to the obvious, any manipulation provides another unique opportunity to accumulate it. Ruthless Mr Market is separating YouTube traders and their money. The wise ones are given another chance and more time to learn and find The Best Stories among junior miners, which will build new fortunes.



"Only the patient investors who still can read, analyse and use the powerful organic intelligence tool - calculator, will be rewarded by the ruthless Mr Market. Only you can decide what to do after your own research and due diligence."

 


"We are getting closer to The Next Catalyst for Gold. The whole new generation of investors has to learn the hard way history lessons. They must find real, solid values after being used, disillusioned and thrown away by "The Ponzi on Steroids". "The Thousand and One" digitized scams known to humans remain scams even on the blockchains."




Central banks continue to accumulate Gold while retail investors are chasing Crypto Dragons.

"Central banks are buying a record amount of Gold and China is increasing dramatically its officially announced Gold reserves. According to Statista, worldwide Gold demand amounted to 4,740.8 metric tons in 2022, an increase of 18.1% from 4,012.8 metric tons in the previous year. Total Gold demand was just below $300 Billion in 2022."


"In 2022, worldwide Gold production stood at 3,100 metric tons. Central Banks bought a record 1,136 metric tons of Gold and their demand soared to a 55-year high. The amount of above-ground reserves for Gold is estimated to be around 205,238 metric tons by the end of 2021, according to the World Gold Council. The total "Market Cap" of Gold can be estimated at roughly $13 Trillion."



The whole world will be probably shocked if China ever reveals the amount of its true Gold reserves which are held by numerous entities under China's control including the citizens of China and the vast Chinese diaspora. 


"There is no Gold 2.0, there are over 5,000 years of humankind's history with Gold. Investors are tired of losing money by chasing Crypto Dragons and Bitcoin Dreams in the Tether Metaverse."





TNR Gold in the Alaskan Elephant Country: "I Believe the Shotgun Gold Project Could Become One of the Main Satellite Gold Projects of the Donlin Gold Mining Camp"



 


Gold is coiling into the very powerful spring and knocking on the new all-time high "Heaven's Door". As with all generational Bull Markets, any price suppression and market manipulation can lead only to one thing: another opportunity to accumulate the best stories in the Gold mining junior space where new fortunes will be created in the next few years to come. Nobody knows the future, but history can teach us about manias and "irrational exuberance" spilling over from chasing Crypto Dragons into real assets and solid values that some junior miners can represent in the marketplace. 



Only the patient investors who still can read, analyse and use the powerful organic intelligence tool - calculator, will be rewarded by the ruthless Mr Market. Only you can decide what to do after your own research and due diligence. 







"Gold mining stocks are ready to follow the Gold breakout and to drive their owners into the future climbing up over a huge wall of worry."


"Gold and silver miners have been hitting another major oversold condition in the marketplace. The right entry point will always defy the probability of your investment success and now we have another truly unique entry point for the best mining stories."


All I can say here is that we found our Story for the next leg of the Bull Market many years ago and bought as many shares as we could. We continued our investments in TNR Gold even during the darkest pandemic days. Now, after a lot of very hard work, our Company TNR Gold Corp. is on a solid financial footing and ready to enjoy new highs.




My Vision for TNR Gold and Strategy: Share Buyback, Potential Valuations, and Shotgun Gold Project Spinout




“We are building The Green Energy Metals Royalty and Gold Company. Our business model provides the unique entry point into the creation of supply chains for critical materials like energy metals which are powering Tesla Energy rEVolution and Gold industry which is providing the ultimate hedge during this part of the economic cycle. Our shareholders are participating in the building of The Green Energy Metals Royalty and Gold Company. In our portfolio, we have a unique combination of assets providing exposure to different parts of mining cycle: starting with the power of blue sky discovery and including partnerships with industry leaders like McEwen Mining, Ganfeng Lithium and Lundin Mining as operators on the projects that will potentially generate royalty cashflows to contribute significant value for our shareholders.”

Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman TNR Gold Corp.


Today I would like to present our strategy for the Shotgun Gold Project in more detail for all our shareholders.




TNR Gold – AmeriGold – Shotgun Gold

The Company’s strategy with the Shotgun Gold Project is to attract a partnership with one of the major gold mining companies. TNR is actively introducing the project to interested parties. We may be at the beginning of a great discovery. There is a clear path on how to move this project forward using the geological and geophysical research currently available to target drilling to expand the resource and form the basis of a preliminary economic analysis. The next step is to acquire a partner who shares our vision and recognizes the growth potential and value to be added to the Shotgun project over time. 



I believe that in order to maximise shareholder value and reach the potential valuations presented above we must preserve capital, reduce the amount of outstanding shares and not invest in Alaska our own capital.


Our strategy presented to potential strategic partners involves the creation of a JV with one of the major gold mining companies when our partner will be investing very substantial capital in the development of the Shotgun Gold Project while earning a stake in the project.



TNR Gold shareholders will benefit from the strategic partner’s capital being invested “in the ground” and industry expertise, including operations in Alaska.



The Management is investigating the best value creation strategies for the Shotgun Gold Project and has put in place the corporate structure of AmeriGold – the stand-alone company that could potentially inherit the Shotgun Gold Project JV operations after the contemplated potential spinout from TNR Gold.



This article is for information only and provides publicly available information and my personal Vision and valuation matrix of TNR Gold. I am the largest individual shareholder of our Company. Nothing in this blog post constitutes investment advice, offer or solicitation of the sale of any securities. Please carefully read all our Legal Disclaimers and conduct your own due diligence as always.

Thank you for your support of TNR Gold!

Tesla Nicola rEVolution and Gold. 




Gold in the USA, the Alaskan Elephant Country: TNR Gold Shotgun Gold Project Presentation



"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.

 





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 blogs. Always consult a qualified financial adviser before any investment decisions. 
Do Your Own Research.