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.
An updated resource estimate from Gold Terra Resource (TSXV: YGT) for its Yellowknife City gold project in the Northwest Territories features a combined open-pit and underground inventory of 24.3 million inferred tonnes grading 1.54 g/t gold, containing 1.2 million gold oz.
The latest resource incorporates an additional 17,540 metres of drilling completed last year at the Crestaurum and Sam Otto deposits and higher gold price assumptions (and lower cut-off grades) when compared with the 2019 inferred resource of 12.8 million tonnes at 1.79 g/t gold, host to 735,000 oz. Both estimates feature the Crestaurum, Sam Otto, Barney and Mispickel deposits with both an open pit and underground mining component. The four are within a three-km radius.
The latest pit-constrained total stands at 21.8 million tonnes grading 1.25 g/t gold, for a total of 876,000 oz., which represents a 67% increase in ounces when compared with the 2019 open-pittable total of 11.6 million tonnes at 1.4 g/t gold. The majority of this increase is driven by the Sam Otto deposit.
Underground resources now sum to 2.6 million tonnes at 4.04 g/t gold and contain 331,000 oz., a 56% ounce increase over the prior 1.2 million tonnes grading 5.7 g/t gold.
Cut-off grades are now at 0.4 g/t gold for open-pit resources, down from 0.5 g/t gold previously. The latest underground resource cut-off ranges between 1.4 g/t gold and 2.5 g/t gold, compared with a flat 3 g/t cut-off previously.
According to president and CEO David Suda, the latest resource numbers speak to the “growth potential” of the Yellowknife City (YCG) project.
“With a 1.2 million oz. inferred mineral resource, the mineralized system is open for further expansion in most directions. Currently, our focus is drilling the unexplored potential of the Campbell shear structure which produced more than five million ounces of high-grade gold at the Con mine. The Campbell shear drilling, which commenced in late 2020, has the potential to demonstrate that our district scale YCG project may host multiple deposits,” Suda said in a release.
At approximately 800 sq. km, Yellowknife City almost 70 km of strike along the Campbell shear system host to the past-producing Con and Giant mines. The release also notes that Giant produced approximately 8 million gold oz.
Gold Terra sees potential for further resource growth from testing the depth extensions of Sam Otto, closer-spaced and deeper drilling at Crestaurum, and from stepping out Crestaurum, Mispickel and Barney along plunge and at depth.
In the fourth quarter of last year, Gold Terrra started a drill program along the Campbell shear. Earlier this month, the company closed a C$2.9 million private placement of flow-through shares – the proceeds are expected to allow it to increase the drilling to 20,000 metres, from 10,000 metres originally.
Yellowknife City is 12 km from the city of Yellowknife.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
