The Greatland Gold share price breached its previous all-time high on Tuesday 1 December to close at 28p.
That gives the AIM-quoted star a record market cap of more than £1.08bn.
The London explorer has had a stunning 12 months, bringing fresh levels of interest from investors all over the world.
And that excitement has reached fever pitch in recent days with CEO Gervaise Heddle delivering on the early promise of high-grade gold at the Havieron prospect in Western Australia.
$22bn market cap farm-in partner Newcrest (ASX:NCM) is now betting big on its partnership with Greatland by signing not one but two joint venture deals with the British firm on 30 November 2020.
What this means
Newcrest will take the lead as the Joint Venture manager and can earn an extra 20% in Havieron. It has also agreed a $50 million loan to Greatland Gold to pay for early work and drilling at Havieron.
Newcrest also cemented its tie-up with Greatland by signing a second farm-in and JV deal on the UK firm’s Black Hills and Paterson Range East licenses. This will be called the ‘Juri Joint Venture’. Greatland will start as the JV manager with Newcrest taking a 25% working interest.
The Australian miner has the opportunity to earn up to 75% if it invests £15 million over the next five years.
The Greatland Gold story has gone beyond hype at this point. This is Australia’s largest gold producer officially in bed with the AIM-lister.
Where it started
In mid-September, GGP soared to 27p on the back of fresh drilling results from $22bn market cap farm-in partner Newcrest (ASX:NCM) that expanded the new Northern Breccia zone, highlighting what Heddle said was “the potential for a bulk tonnage mining operation at Havieron”.
Newcrest’s best results showed intercepts from infill drilling of 120.7m at 9.3g/t gold and 0.18% copper.
Excellent results from step-out drilling “indicate the presence of higher-grade, massive sulphide mineralisation within the Breccia bodies”, Heddle noted.
Broker Hannam & Partners added a note in recent days to say the GGP valuation was “under review” pending the publication of the expected maiden JORC resource in December, sparking hopes of a material re-rate.
Greatland Gold took the rights to Haveiron in a 2016 cash and shares deal worth AUD$750,000 and has attracted an army of devoted retail followers.
15-bagger and more
The Greatland Gold share price has 15-bagged since January 2020, so this is no real surprise.
GGP started to perk up in March 2019 when Greatland signed a $65 million farm-in with the Australian major, with Newcrest taking a 40% interest in the project. Newcrest has completed 111,000m of drilling so far.
But the market is awaiting even greater things from Greatland Gold, with recent highs just one step on the road to immortality. Drilling also began in August 2020 at Scallywag, a 100% owned property 6km down the road from Haveiron. Investors are keenly awaiting potential bombshell results from here too.
Greatland is now looking to deliver an initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the South East Crescent section of Haveiron before the end of Q4 2020.
This would give investors an idea of exactly how much gold could be in the company’s grasp underneath the Australian desert.
There is one other thing to note: in final results for the year ending 30 June 2020, Greatland’s cash deposits stood at over £6m. So Greatland is fully cashed up and well capitalised to accelerate its plans in the Paterson region. It is either the luckiest AIM company I have ever seen or one of the best. But to re-iterate: a £1bn market cap is just the start of this story, not the end.
Author: Mark Sheridan
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
Africa-focused gold and base metals explorer Oriole Resources (LSE:ORR) has hit a key milestone, dispatching its drill rig to Cameroon to begin its maiden gold exploration project in the country.
The diamond drilling project at Bibemi will now start before the end of 2020, the company said.
A team of engineers have also completed detailed geological mapping at the northern extension of the high-grade Bakassi zone, as well as recon mapping over the southern extension.
Experts have now identified 17 initial drill holes which will test the depth-extension of gold mineralisation across 1,940m, with further drill targets expected from large-scale data analysis.
It’s confirmation of the fact that the 200sq km of licenses at Bibemi have produced “encouraging results from the very beginning,” Oriole’s CEO Tim Livesey said.
The Boart Longyear diamond drill rig will arrive in Cameroon via Senegal and ancillary drill equipment is en route from South Africa by sea, Oriole noted.
It is expected to arrive on site in early December 2020 and the drill camp to support the company’s biggest project to date is being constructed in advance of arrival. Due to Covid-19 restrictions the schedule was delayed for three weeks, but everything is now progressing to plan, Oriole said. Drill pad construction has already been completed.
New and existing shareholders
In October, Oriole announced it had raised £1.9m — over half its entire market cap at the time — to progress its two early-stage Cameroon gold projects: Bibemi and Wapouze.
Rock chip sampling taken in Q3 2018 across the central Bakassi area — where Bibemi and Wapouzé are located — produced results including 135.4g/t gold, 119.7g/t gold and 117.2g/t gold.
Both projects sit on Pan-African greenstone gold belts and present the opportunity to exploit potentially high-grade gold mineralisation. Oriole successfully renewed licenses for the two in early October 2020.
The company is in its third year of investment to earn-in a 90% interest here by spending $3.12 million over four years. Oriole’s interests in the region are 100%-held by local company BEIG3, through its wholly-owned subsidiary RMC Cameroon SARL. Completing a total of 3,000m of drilling will see the company satisfy its earn-in conditions.
The company intends to begin plans for a drill programme at the 180sq km Wapouzé in 2021.
Livesey, a former exploration manager at the world’s second-largest gold miner, New York-listed Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD), added “The mobilisation of the drill rig is a key milestone in the work stream and we are working hard to ensure a clean passage in anticipation of drilling commencing before the end of the year.
“We are confident that Bibemi will continue to build on the good results we’ve already yielded and it will be great to get some vertical extension to the trends the team have already identified on surface.”
Positive in Senegal
Oriole is also celebrating exceptional results from its more advanced third gold project at Senala in Senegal.
A November market update noted how a 10,000m air-core drilling campaign by its JV partner Iamgold will restart work in November 2020. The NYSE-listed Canadian giant completed 1,300m of air-core drilling at the Faré prospect in June and July 2020. It has the option to spend $8m to earn a 70% interest in Senala.
Initial results from Senala are due in Q1 2021. And Oriole’s latest data analysis from earlier reverse circulation drilling has revealed best results of 20m at 31.13g/t gold, including 10m at a stunning 60.98g/t gold.
Reinterpreted results from diamond drilling completed in 2014 has uncovered lengthy intercepts of 59.6m at 2.2g/t gold and 49.5m at 1.75g/t gold.
Oriole’s team now believe Faré has significant potential to host a standalone deposit by itself.
“As we have seen from recent drilling on other licences in the immediate surrounds of Senala, long intercepts with grades well in excess of 2 g/t gold can quickly build the types of volumes required for standalone mineable resources,” Livesey noted.
Among Fare’s results are 14m at 2.94g/t gold, 5.15m at 2.92g/t gold and 10m at 4.12g/t gold. With over 6km of mineralised strike length Fare adds significant value to the Senala license, Livesey added.
And Faré is just one of five mineralised zones in the Senala license where exploration is already underway.
Author: Mark Sheridan
The Author does not hold a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
New results from the Greatland Gold (LSE:GGP) Haveiron project in Western Australia show further evidence of high-grade gold.
Farm-in partner Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) reported an intercept from infill drilling of 120.7m at 9.3g/t gold and 0.18% copper.
Other results from the latest set of drill holes across the main target areas include 116m at 2.9g/t from 1136m, including 13m at 13g/t gold and 0.17% copper.
And a potential new fourth target area, called the “Eastern Breccia” has now been identified. Newcrest’s ongoing campaign at Haveiron identified the zone by growth drilling from two drill holes, Greatland said.
Three drill holes at this new zone were reported in a 29 October ASX market update called the Newcrest Quarterly Exploration Report.
They show a 14-metre section at 19g/t gold along with 98.2 meters at 1.9g/t gold and 0.14% copper.
CEO Gervaise Heddle said his company was “delighted” by the drilling results, noting that they “further reinforce the potential for a bulk tonnage mining operation at Haveiron”.
It’s the latest piece of good fortune for the London miner, which picked up the rights to Haveiron in 2016 through a AUD$750,000 cash and shares deal. Since then, the AIM-listed explorer has attracted a massive retail following.
The GGP share price has gained 22.5% since the start of September 2020 and is up 1,238% in the year to date. That’s probably because Greatland has on its hands one of the most exciting mineral discoveries in Australia in years.
Newcrest’s work programme at Haveiron’s continues to expand the project’s footprint, Heddle said, with breccia mineralisation identified “outside of the ovoid-shaped Crescent sulphide zone to the east, north-west and south-east.”
Greatland is now looking to deliver an initial Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the South East Crescent before the end of 2020. This would give investors an idea of exactly how much gold could be in the company’s grasp underneath the Australian desert.
The drill results announced on Wednesday represent even better numbers than the best results from the June 2020 update — 109m at 6.3g/t gold. At the time, Heddle told the market these were “outstanding” and “the best results from the project to date”.
Drilling also began in August at Scallywag, a 100% owned property 6 kilometers down the road from Haveiron. Investors are keenly awaiting potential bombshell results from here too.
Now step-out drilling is set to continue to determine the extent of the mineralised system at Haveiron.
Greatland discovered significant gold and copper mineralisation through their 2018 exploration drilling campaign, under 400m of cover.
The spiking Greatland Gold share price really took off in March 2019, when the firm agreed a $65 million farm-in with Australian major Newcrest, with drilling beginning a month later. To date Newcrest have completed 111,000m of drilling from 120 holes.
Author: Mark Sheridan
The Author does not hold any position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, does not own a position in the stock(s) and/or financial instrument(s) mentioned in the piece.
MiningMaven Ltd, the owner of MiningMaven.com, has not been paid for the production of this piece by the company or companies mentioned above.
MiningMaven.com and MiningMaven Ltd are not responsible for the article's content or accuracy and do not share the views of the author. News and research are not recommendations to deal, and investments may fall in value so that you could lose some or all of your investment. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance
A gold opportunity of epic proportions has opened up in southern Australia.
Beneath the planes of Victoria lie as many as 75 million high-grade ounces of the precious metal, just waiting to be found.
That’s the view of the Geological Survey of Victoria, at least, and the global exploration community has begun to cotton on. After all, plays like this don’t go long unnoticed.
Local media reports that this world-class mining region is reaching “frenzy state”.
Juniors have flocked to Victoria from all over the world hoping to replicate Fosterville’s success. These firms have been aggressively acquiring licenses and commencing drill programmes. In the past 12 months they’ve enjoyed increasingly exceptional results.
It’s not just these smaller firms that have zoned in on Victoria though. Juggernaut miner Newmont (NYSE:NEM) has even staked a vast land package in the region.
Majors like this typically leave exploration to the junior explorers, jumping in when a commercial discovery is made. But with so much high-grade gold and such low mining costs on offer, what’s the point in waiting? Especially when even the locals are even getting involved.
In July last year, one Victoria retiree discovered a 2 kilogram gold nugget worth USD$130,000 armed only with a metal detector and a shovel.
In these goldfields, great riches are everywhere to be found.
And amid this tidal wave of interest, three London-listed exploration companies are among the best placed to seize the Victoria gold opportunity.
Red Rock Resources (LSE:RRR), Power Metal Resources (LSE:POW) and ECR Minerals (LSE:ECR) were the first in London to spot this an enormous opportunity and moved before anyone else could blink.
The three firms staked vast claims in three of the most prospective mining areas in Victoria – Ballarat, Bendigo, and Creswick.
With each company now getting ready to accelerate its plans, the potential for multiple investment returns is tantalising.
