Just a week after Gold Terra announced encouraging findings on the old Con Mine property, the company has announced another significant discovery at a site north of Yellowknife.
The Vancouver-based explorer stated on March 22 that the Mispickel site, located between Banting and Walsh lakes north of Yellowknife, contains 19 grams of gold per tonne across a four-metre stretch, including 73.9 grams per tonne of gold over one metre.
鈥淲e鈥檙e having good success and hopefully, you know, we can call it a deposit sooner rather than later,鈥� said Gold Terra CEO Gerald Panneton.
Tom Hoefer, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Mines, sees the potential.
鈥淚f there was a lot of distance on it, (73.9 grams) would be the equivalent of over two ounces (of gold) per tonne, which would be incredibly high grade, if you had a lot of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut even 19 grams per tonne, that鈥檚 over half an ounce. So that鈥檚 still really high grade, so that that鈥檚 their excitement here.鈥�
Despite the significant find in the Mispickel area, Panneton said exploring the former Con Mine property south of Yellowknife is still Gold Terra鈥檚 top priority. Last week, the company announced it had intersected a low-grade area containing 3.61 grams of gold per tonne across 4.55 metres, including 15.75 grams per tonne across 0.75 metres.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our prime target,鈥� said Panneton. 鈥淭he mine was shut down with approximately 650,000 ounces left, and maybe more.鈥�
In November, Gold Terra finalized an option agreement with gold mining company Newmont for the Con Mine property, allowing Gold Terra to explore and extract on the property for four years.
Although he cautions that more work is needed to confirm the potential of the Mispickel area, Hoefer said the find is a positive sign for the future of gold mining in the NWT.
鈥淓very time they report something like this, this is an exciting result, right? Because it鈥檚 high-grade gold, and it鈥檚 in an area that was a little bit new, that hasn鈥檛 seen that kind of result,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so what that hopefully does is it drives excitement with shareholders who say, 鈥榊eah, we鈥檙e going to give you some more money, because we think you鈥檙e hot on the trail here.鈥欌��
Should Gold Terra decide to open another mine in the Yellowknife area, Panneton said it would most likely be five to seven years before the project is operational, although it could be sooner.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no guarantee there will ever be another mine again in Yellowknife, but I think there鈥檚 a very good chance it could happen. Otherwise, I would not be putting my own money into the company,鈥� he said.
However, he said the future of any new projects will depend on the fluctuating price of gold, which was trading at more than $1,950 per ounce on Thursday.
鈥淚f gold goes down to $1,000, our projects are not as attractive, right?鈥�
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