NevGold Picks Up Key Land Package Near Hercules Silver
In this report I discuss NevGold Corp. and Hercules Silver.
Shortly after Hercules Silver announced the impressive discovery hole at their porphyry copper project in Idaho, NevGold Corp. had their team on the ground staking claims. Last week they announced the new ground they picked up.
Upon Hercules Silver announcing their discovery hole, and subsequently announcing that Barrick made a big investment into them, it created a buzz in the mining sector. A key reason is that Barrick is known to be very selective about projects they invest in, and for them to make a big investment into a junior with one drill hole is unusual.
Whenever an impressive new discovery is made, it can start a staking rush. So when Hercules announced their discovery and the big position Barrick took in their stock, a staking rush ensued.
It is not cheap to undertake a big staking program, and in Idaho they still have the old system of pounding stakes into the ground. Before that is done, groups need to assess the geology and then send stakers out to stake claims. In a staking rush, groups don’t want to tip their hands and take care to try to not show they are in town to stake claims or pinpoint where they are staking. It can be somewhat clandestine, like spies trying to hide their identity and work covertly.
The key reason that NevGold was able to hit the ground running, was because they were already in the state. They have the Nutmeg project that has a 1.25 million ounce resource of oxide gold. They understood the geology in the state very well and had a team ready to go out staking ground.
They did their research and identified an area with geology like where Hercules made their discovery, including structures along with the right rock packages. In addition, there had been historical mining on the ground, so they knew that there is mineralization there as well.
In a staking rush, some will just stake claims for the sake of having claims in a hot area. NevGold wasn’t interested in that, they wanted the right geology, the right structures and in the case of where they staked, historical mining. Those old-timers don’t go into areas to move rocks for exercise, it is hard work and their work, although rudimentary compared to modern mining methods, are often important precursors to where to look.
Last week, I did an interview with NevGold’s CEO Brandon Bonafacio to announce that they are a new sponsor at Rocks And Stocks News, and to talk about the ground they picked up. He is a young CEO, but not new to the mining business as his father is an industry veteran. I was really impressed with his knowledge of his projects and his presentation skills.
I was very enthused to learn about their staking because I picked Hercules Silver right after they announced their discovery hole and prior to Barrick stepping in to become a big shareholder. I had done a lot of research on Hercules’ claims and was curious to know why NevGold picked the ground they did.
On the Hercules Silver discovery, they had been working there for years on a near surface silver discovery. They did a geophysical survey and saw an anomaly below the silver discovery, drilled it and made an impressive discovery. They did a handful of drill holes and noticed that the grades were higher in the northwest direction. Actually the discovery hole, in the northwest corner of their handful of holes, was their best hole for grade and thickness.
They planned their drilling to use widely spaced drill holes to get a group of holes into the large geophysical anomaly. They didn’t have the benefit of assay results from drilling when they planned the holes. It was sort of a wildcat drilling program into a geophysical anomaly.
As I was doing my homework on the Hercules discovery hole, I noticed two cross cutting structures to the northwest of the discovery hole. I think this will prove to be important when they do follow up drilling soon to look for the guts of the porphyry.
Then when I talked to Brandon and looked at what they staked and why, it stood out to me that they focused on ground with the right kind of rocks and structures running through it. I was also very impressed with all the historical mining that was done many years prior on their ground.
What also got me pumped up about their ground in Idaho when I interviewed Brandon was when he started telling me about their Nutmeg project around 40 km to the south of Hercules Silver. He mentioned that the geological model is that below the oxide gold resource is an epithermal vein system.
I live in Mexico and the country is the most important source of silver of any country in the world, that silver production comes from silver rich epithermal vein mines. I’m very familiar with this style of deposits that are important sources of silver and gold.
I was impressed that the oxide gold resource has room to grow. Oxide gold mines have been important sources of gold mines in neighbouring Nevada over the past 50 years or so. There has been intense exploration for oxide mines in Nevada for several decades. But, most of those have been found, in the coming years if companies want to keep mining in Nevada, you will see a transition to them going deeper, below the oxide deposits to look for sulphide deposits.
If companies want to keep mining oxide deposits, in Nevada or close to Nevada, in mining friendly jurisdictions, they will have to look to Idaho where NevGold has one.
I like that the oxide zone is open for expansion, but what really got me the most excited was the potential for a cluster of low sulphidation epithermal veins below the oxides. The oxide zone has size and if it was fed by epithermal veins it stands to reason based on geological models that there is likely a cluster of veins below and around the oxide zone.
This means that not only have they made a move into the Hercules Camp, with a great project, they also have an impressive oxide gold resource with the potential for a cluster of epithermal veins below it.
Soon after Hercules Silver made their discovery, they also did a deep penetrating 3D geophysical survey. They also mentioned that they were staking ground. Today, they announced the results of the geophysical survey and it looks impressive and gives them a path to target the guts of the porphyry system.
Hercules Silver had to wait for their second round of drilling for winter to end, they are very close to starting their next drilling to follow up on the discovery hole. That drilling program should get investors worked up about new holes going in around their discovery. I would guess it will also cause enthusiasm for other claims in the area.
NevGold is planning to get busy with the preparatory work to get ready for their own drilling on the newly staked Zeus project. I’m also looking forward to any developments at their Nutmeg project.
I suspect they will have plenty of news flow from Zues and Nutmeg. I’m very happy they took me up on the offer to become a sponsor at Rocks And Stocks News. Shortly after the news went out on their Zues acquisition and that they are a sponsor at Rocks And Stocks News, I used the money from the sponsorship and significantly more to take a position in the stock.
I like when companies become sponsors as I know they are committed to appearing regularly on my shows for interviews. I love following companies with interviews as their stories evolve and I get the impression we will have plenty to talk about in a series of interviews.
All the best,
Allan Barry Laboucan
Disclosure
NevGold Corp. is a sponsor of Rocks And Stocks News, and Allan Barry Laboucan is a shareholder.
Rocks And Stocks News does not make buying or selling recommendations. The reports are for information purposes only. Sponsors pay a fee to Rocks And Stocks News for content creation. The business model of Rocks And Stocks News is to fund research and reporting on the sector, picks and sponsors through corporate sponsorship. We are thankful to sponsors for enabling commentary free of charge to readers and viewers of the reports. When reporting on sponsors it is on behalf of the sponsors discussed in the portion of the report mentioning the sponsor. Before making any investment decision it is important for you to speak with your financial advisors to consider your risk profile. It is also important to do your homework. To help in that process, Rocks And Stocks News means to be a gateway by doing reports and interviews of management of sponsors and picks. The reports and interviews should not be considered investment advice. Allan Barry Laboucan is the founder and owner of Rocks And Stocks News, he has worked in the mining sector since 1993 and has been reporting on the sector since 2005. He has worked with and been mentored by very talented geoscientists in geology, geochemistry and geophysics. He uses the skills he has picked up during his career to assess sponsors and picks in the reports. Whether a company is a pick or a sponsor they go through the same filter and are reported on when important news is made that Allan Barry Laboucan wants to discuss on the Rocks And Stocks News platform. He may own shares in sponsors and picks for investment purposes.