Lucky Minerals arranges funding for first drill program at Fortuna, shares rise

Gentile is considered one of the leading investors in the junior mining sector, owning significant positions in over 15 small-cap mining companies. He is currently a strategic advisor to Arizona Metals and Geomega Resources, and sits on the board of Northern Superior Resources, Roscan Gold, Radisson Mining Resources and Solstice Gold.

Proceeds of the offering will be used to fund the company’s first drill program at the Fortuna gold project in Ecuador. A 550 km² land package containing 12 mining concessions, the Fortuna property is situated on Shincata trend, a highly prospective yet underexplored gold belt.

Current exploration is focused on three prospects on just a small portion of the concessions. The initial drilling will begin at Wayka, an epithermal gold discovery located within the central portion of the Fortuna concessions.

Commenting on the imminent drilling at Wayka, Gentile said the potential for a “major new discovery is high, as the company begins drilling directly under some of the wide and high grade trenches uncovered in 2021 and 2022.”

Gentile pointed out that drilling under trench T-14 (8 g/t gold over 9 m) and trench T-21 (5.24 g/t gold over 14 m) “greatly increases the odds of success and positions Lucky Minerals well for the 2022 drill program.”

“This new mineralized system is showing a large footprint that continues to expand with additional surface work and trenching,” he added.

Shares of Lucky Minerals surged 46.1% by 11:50 a.m. in Toronto. The junior gold explorer has a market capitalization of $13.2 million.