Lots going on in the macro realm as Gold continues to flirt with levels that, once convincingly breached, could send it on its merry way. Myriad cross-currents are underpinning current trade, but the most significant is a weaker Greenback.
$1825 is the level we need to plow through in the precious metal. We need to push past this resistance and not look back.
High inflation, a menacing Fed, and slow economic growth (not to mention a delicate Dollar) could prove a potent cocktail for the metal as we navigate 2023. Without a doubt, volatility will rule the economic landscape.
A brief Holiday update…
Forum Energy Metals (FMC.V)
Forum just announced having closed an upsized PP of flow-through units priced at $0.13. Each unit consists of one flow-through share and one-half of a warrant (each whole warrant is exercisable at $0.17, good for two years)—Forum Closes Final Tranche of Private Placement.
With the company coffers now stoked, the company can ramp up / accelerate drill campaigns at its Wollaston and Thelon Basin projects as we move into 2023.
In the short term, we’re looking for a discovery at Wollaston where the Company intends to complete 1k meters of diamond drilling before Christmas and another 2k meters after the holiday break. This campaign follows in the wake of a positive round of geophysics that identified multiple high-priority targets worthy of a proper probe of the drill bit.
Below is a recent video featuring Dr. Rebecca Hunter, Forum’s VP of Exploration, who sheds light on several important details concerning Wollaston (located along the western edge of the prolific Athabasca Basin).
In the medium term, an exploration campaign at the Company’s Thelon Basin Project offers significant resource expansion and discovery potential.***
Teuton Resources (TUO.V)
Teuton, backed by its JV partner, furnished stakeholders with a review of the last two rounds of aggressive resource expansion and delineation drilling at its flagship Treaty Creek Project (TC) in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia—Teuton Resources Provides a Review of the 2021 and 2022 Programs Completed at its Treaty Creek Project, Located in the Golden Triangle Region of British Columbia, Canada.
TC adjoins and is on trend with Seabridge Gold’s KSM property and Newcrest Mining’s Brucejack property. TC is owned 60% by Tudor Gold, 20% by American Creek, and 20% by Teuton—Teuton’s 20% is fully carried until the JV partners settle on a decision to produce.
Again, the objective of these last two drill campaigns (30,108 meters in 2021— 42,318 meters in 2022)—”was to complete an aggressive resource expansion and delineation plan on the Goldstorm Deposit.” Reconnaissance drilling in the area also tagged several new discoveries at the Perfectstorm, Eureka, and Calm Before the Storm zones.
A key takeaway from this Dec. 15 press release: Despite drilling over 70,000 meters since the JV partners published a maiden resource estimate in March of 2021—said resource currently stands at 27.3M AuEq ozs in all resource categories—the Goldstorm Deposit remains open to the south, north, northeast and at depth.
Note how drill holes GS-22-133, GS-22-159, GS-21-113-W2, and GS-21-113 stepped out from the main orebody (map below):
Highlights of the 2021 and 2022 drill programs (verbatim as per this Dec. 15 press release):
- Excellent results from infill and step-out drilling which consistently encountered stronger than expected gold, copper and silver mineralization outside the previously defined resource area of the Goldstorm Deposit to depth and along the northeastern axis by at least 500 m to the north and northeast. Drill holes in this area were observed to intercept higher grades than those derived from the 2021 Initial Mineral Resource Estimate;
- Extended hole GS-21-113-W2 by 280.1 meters, which intercepted higher gold and copper grades at depth within the northern step-out area of the Goldstorm Deposit. This hole returned an intercept of 1,497.5 meters of 1.12 g/t AuEq (0.76 g/t Au, 3.70 g/t Ag, 0.27 % Cu) with the strongest mineralization occurring between 1520 meters and 1688 meters down hole, averaging 2.48 g/t AuEq (1.41 g/t Au, 9.07 g/t Ag, 0.82 % Cu) over 168 meters;
- Drilled a number of new high-grade intercepts bearing visible gold mineralization within and outside the boundaries of the Goldstorm Deposit, most notably hole GS-22-134, which returned 20.86 g/t AuEq (20.61 g/t Au, 1.50 g/t Ag, 0.20 % Cu) over 4.5 meters within a 25.5 meter zone of 9.96 AuEq (9.66 g/t Au, 1.23 g/t Ag, 0.24 % Cu), and displayed 17 occurrences of visible gold within quartz-pyrite stockwork veins;
- Encountered stronger than expected copper grades within the CS600 domain of the Goldstorm Deposit, most notably hole GS-22-159 which returned an intercept of 1.71 g/t AuEq (0.92 g/t Au, 6.10 g/t Ag and 0.61 % Cu) over 180 meters. This drill hole ended in strong copper mineralization centered on a much larger composite of 489.0 meters averaging 1.12 g/t AuEq (0.66 g/t Au, 3.60 g/t Ag, 0.36 % Cu);
- Confirmed the discovery of a new mineralized zone known as Route 66 located in the southern portion of the Goldstorm Deposit. This new higher-grade gold zone was initially intercepted in 2020 by hole GS-20-66 and was followed up in 2022 by hole GS-22-135; a 100 meter step-out hole which intercepted the up-dip expression of the zone, returning 1.42 g/t AuEq over 55.5 meters (1.38 g/t Au, 1.03 g/t Ag, 0.02 % Cu);
- Improved the definition and spatial continuity of the Goldstorm porphyry system which is comprised of four separate mineral domains over an area that measures approximately 2,500 meters in length, 1,000 meters in width and 1,400 meters in depth. The Goldstorm Deposit remains open to the south, north, northeast and at depth;
- New drill discoveries made at Perfectstorm, Calm Before the Storm and Eureka zones with several diamond drill holes intercepting significant gold, copper and silver mineralization. These holes will be followed up by subsequent exploration programs, but the priority will be to drill off the limits to the Goldstorm Deposit for 2023.
(a table with expanded drill hole results is included in the guts of this Dec. 15 press release)
Ken Konkin, CEO of Tudor & Director of Teuton: “One of the biggest highlights of the 2021-2022 drilling programs was discovery of a structural corridor located in northern aspect of the step-out drilling which hosts significant fine-grained to coarse-grained visible native gold. In drill hole GS-22-134, our geologists observed 17 grains of native gold over 4.5 m that averaged 20.86 AuEq (20.61 g/t Au, 1.50 g/t Ag, 0.20 % Cu). We have not specifically targeted this high-grade corridor, yet numerous drill holes intersected visible gold within the northern aspect to the step-out drilling, this is something we did not expect. We look forward to continuing the step-out drilling in 2023. One very important aspect to consider with the Goldstorm Deposit is that not only are the gold-copper-silver composites grades increasing to the north, but we are maintaining a very high-level of grade consistency throughout this area. As the saying goes: if grade is king of the deposit, then surely consistency should be queen; we clearly have demonstrated that we have excellent consistency throughout the entire deposit.”
The 70k-plus meters drilled over the past two years will be included in an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, scheduled to drop in the first half of 2023. Treaty Creek’s 27M AuEq ounce count is destined to grow, perhaps significantly so.
Patriot Battery Metals (PMET.V)
Patriot delivered news on multiple fronts since we last checked in. Briefly…
PMET common began trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as CHESS Depositary Interests at a ratio of 10 CDIs to 1 share. The stock symbol = PMT —Patriot Battery Metals Commences Trading on the ASX.
With the news blackout period having ended, the Company went on to drop drill results from its mothership Corvette Project in the James Bay region of Quebec. The highlight interval is in the text of this Dec. 13 headline—Patriot Drills 113.4 m of 1.61% Li₂O, including 2.0 m of 6.41% Li₂O, at the CV5 Pegmatite, Corvette Property, Quebec
Every legit crew in the junior arena will conduct metallurgical studies while they drill off a deposit. On Dec. 19, PMET dropped the following met-related headline— Patriot Achieves 79% Recovery in Dense Media Separation Test Work on the CV5 Pegmatite, Corvette Property, Quebec.
Coles Notes Summary:
- Preliminary Dense Media Separation (“DMS”) followed by magnetic separation on drill core from the CV5 Pegmatite produces marketable spodumene concentrate at high lithium recovery
- 79% recovery to produce 5.8% Li2O spodumene concentrate with low Fe2O3 (0.60%)
- Results affirm previous Heavy Liquid Separation (“HLS”) tests and indicate a strong potential for a DMS driven flowsheet without the need of flotation
- An HLS screening program is nearing completion and will assess the liberation and recovery characteristics at different locations of the CV5 Pegmatite along strike and at depth
END
—Greg Nolan
Full disclosure: Forum and Teuton are Highballer clients. The author owns shares in Forum, Teuton, and Patriot.
*** The West and Main zones at Forum’s Thelon Basin project are estimated to contain 8 million pounds (>1% grade). This is a historic, non-compliant NI 43-101 resource.
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