Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
The results of ten drill holes reported from Ascot Resources’ Premier gold project in the Golden Triangle district in British Columbia extend the Premier West zone, nearby proposed mining areas, to the northwest with several high grade hits.
The drill highlights include 24.2 metres of 13.74 g/t gold starting at 228.9 metres; 11.8 metres of 8.42 g/t gold from 243 metres; as well as 14.2 metres of 2.37 g/t gold starting at 255.9 metres.
Based on the map provided with the release, 400 metres of strike length, extending out further to the northwest from Premier West, remains unexplored and additional assays are pending for the zone. The Premier West area lies west of the existing Premier deposit.
Midday Wednesday, Ascot’s stock was up 6.6% on the TSE
Derek White, the company’s president and CEO indicated that two rigs are now working on the Silver Hill and Day zones at Premier, with drill logs suggesting alteration and sulphide mineralization associated with precious metals mineralization in the area.
In early June, Ascot started a 15,000-metre exploration program at the Premier project – the work is focused on four targets: Premier West, Silver Hill, Lost Valley and Woodbine.
By late July, the company released the results of seven holes drilled at Premier West, reporting intercepts that included 3.2 metres of 20.06 g/t gold and 6 metres of 9.21 g/t gold.
The exploration work to the west of the Premier deposit is focused on defining the connection between the known gold occurrences in the area. Results received suggest a mineralized zone that is sub-horizontal and dips to the west. The 400-metre unexplored strike length could add substantial resources to the inventory, the company said.
Ascot is working to restart the past-producing Premier project – the historic Premier underground mine generated 2 million gold oz. and 45 million oz. of silver between 1918 and 1952.
In April, the company released a feasibility study on a restart of the site, which suggests an underground operation, producing an average of 132,375 oz. of gold and 370,500 oz. of silver annually over an 8-year life at all-in sustaining costs of $769 per oz. Based on a capital cost estimate of C$146.6 million, the after-tax net present value for the development, at a 5% discount rate, comes in at C$341 million.
Reserves at Premier stand at 3.6 million tonnes grading 5.45 g/t gold and 19.1 g/t silver for a total of 637,000 oz. of gold and 2.2 million oz. of silver, based on gold-equivalent cut-off grades between 2.85 g/t and 3.82 g/t.
Midday Wednesday, Ascot’s stock was up 6.6% on the TSE. The company has a C$311 million market capitalization.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
