Gold Terra reported in April that its first wedge hole at the Con property pierced the Campbell Shear from about 2,665 metres depth in hole GTCM25-056A. Assays are pending. The intersection is about 600 metres below the current depth of the historic Robertson Shaft. The result follows the initial piercing of the shear with hole GTCM23-055 that cut 1.7 metres at 12.63 grams gold from 2,075 metres in November, 2023.
The intersection proves the company’s model showing the high potential for the shear’s continuation at depth and down plunge of the historic deposit that was mined, CEO Gerald Panneton said.
The wedge hole drilling program, which includes branches off the main hole comprises about 3,000 metres and started in January. The program aims to expand the September 2022 initial resource that outlined 450,000 indicated tonnes grading 7.55 grams gold for 109,000 oz. of contained gold; and 2 million inferred tonnes at 6.74 grams gold for 432,000 inferred ounces..
Gold Terra’s 918-sq.-km YCG project, located on properties north, south and east of the city, hosts 24.3 million inferred tonnes grading 1.54 grams gold for 1.2 million ounces, according to a 2021 resource.
The company in 2021 signed an option agreement with Newmont (NYSE: NEM, TSX: NGT), due to last until 2027, that will give Gold Terra the opportunity to acquire Newmont subsidiary Miramar Northern Mining. Gold Terra must spend at least $10.9 million in exploration, complete a pre-feasibility study and pay Newmont $8 million.
Gold Terra has a market capitalization of $24.27 million.
Lavras Gold
Lavras Gold (TSX.VLGC) in April reported drill results that demonstrated the high grades and continuity at Fazenda do Posto deposit, part of its LDS project in southern Brazil. Highlight hole 24BT043 cut 251 metres grading 1.2 grams gold from 208 metres depth, including 100 metres at 2.2 grams gold and 20 metres grading 2.4 grams gold.
In March, Lavras reported similarly strong near-surface results at its Butiá deposit, just 150 metres east of Fazenda do Posto, with hole 24BT034 returning 123 metres grading 1.8 grams gold from 69 metres in hole, including 21 metres at 4.1 grams gold.
The results were from at least 20,000 metres of historic drilling across 78 holes at LDS, near the town of Lavras do Sul, about 1,780 km southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
Butiá, its most advanced deposit, hosts 12.9 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.91 grams gold for 377,000 contained ounces; and 3.7 million inferred tonnes at 0.97 grams gold for 115,000 ounces, according to a 2022 resource.
The nearby Cerrito deposit holds 8.3 million indicated tonnes at 0.7 grams gold for 188,000 contained oz.; and 13.2 million inferred tonnes grading 0.69 grams gold for 293,500 oz. of gold.
Kinross Gold (TSX: K; NYSE: KGC) holds a 5% equity interest in Lavras.
Lavras Gold has a market capitalization of $133.8 million.
Lion One Metals
Lion One Metals (TSXV: LIO) is looking to double gold production to 600 or 700 tonnes per day by next year at its Tuvatu mine in Fiji. The underground mine is located on the main island of Viti Levu.
The mine produced 31,044 tonnes of high-grade ore with an average head grade of 5.5 grams gold per tonne and overall gold recovery of 82.5% in this year’s first quarter. Mechanized production began in May 2024.
Tuvatu is slated to produce about 331,370 oz. over a five-year life, according to the updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) from 2022.
The project hosts 1 million indicated tonnes grading 8.5 grams gold for 274,600 contained oz., according to the PEA. Inferred resources total 1.3 million tonnes at 9 grams gold for 384,000 ounces. The project has an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $121.7 million (C$169.9 million) at a discount rate of 5% and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 50.9%. The after-tax payback period is pegged at 1.7 years.
Lion One is also exploring at the Tuvatu site, with drilling ongoing at its Alkaline gold project and in the surrounding Navilawa Caldera.
Highlight results from infill and grade control drilling in early May included 1.9 metres grading 54.16 grams gold from 90.2 metres depth in hole TGC-0398, including 0.6 metres at 156.55 grams gold. That result was from 2,701.4 meters of underground drilling focused on the Ura lode system which Lion One is currently mining.
Another noteworthy assay, from the beginning of May included 0.4 metre grading 236 grams gold from 109.4 metres depth in hole TGC-0345, That result was from drilling in Zone 5, where the company is also mining.
Lion One has a market capitalization of $83.7 million.
Nova Minerals
Nova Minerals (Nasdaq, ASX: NVA) is advancing its main Estelle gold-antimony project in south-central Alaska. The project, about 150 km northwest of Anchorage, sits on the prolific Tintina gold belt and surface sampling shows it also hosts high-grade antimony, a byproduct of gold that has defence and clean energy applications.
The project is made up of the RPM, Korbel, Train, Stoney and Stibium targets. Antimony has been found across all targets, particularly in samples grading as high as 61% antimony at Stibium.
The company is working towards completing a feasibility study by the end of the year.
Estelle hosts 244 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.3 gram gold for 2.72 million oz. contained gold, according to a resource update from April 2024. Inferred resources total 231 million tonnes at 0.3 gram gold for 2.45 million contained ounces.
While resource expansion drilling is planned this year for RPM, exploration drilling for Train, and initial drilling at Stibium, exploration last October demonstrated the high-grades at RPM.
Highlight hole RPMRC-24017 cut 29 metres grading 7.1 grams gold from surface, including 22 metres at 9.4 grams gold from surface and 6 metres at 19.9 grams gold from 16 metres depth. Hole RPMRC-24020 returned 28 metres grading 4.5 grams gold from surface, including 23 metres at 5.3 grams gold from 5 metres and 6 metres at 14.3 grams gold from 11 metres.
Those results helped extend RPM’s high-grade core, Nova said.
The feasibility study is to examine achieving production with a scalable operation comprising an initial low-cost, smaller scale mine at RPM, as well as a larger mine with higher gold production.
The study will also look at developing a low capex start antimony-gold operation, subject to potential funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. Washington has taken a greater interest in antimony since Beijing last December halted exports of antimony and other critical metals to the U.S.
Nova Minerals has a market cap of US$58.65 million.
