Pacgold (ASX:PGO) continues to expand and deliver ‘high-grade’ results at its Alice River Gold Project, which Managing Director Tony Schreck says has “put a rocket under the company’s share price”.
Speaking to Mining.com.au ahead of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Sydney in November where the company will showcase its assets, the MD notes that Pacgold was the best performing gold IPO on the ASX in 2021, due to the recent ‘high-grade’ discovery at its 100% owned Alice River Gold Project in North Queensland.
Earlier this month, Pacgold announced that wide-spaced step-out drillhole ARDH061 had returned ‘high-grade’ gold assays at the F1a Zone within the project, including 14.9m @ 10.3g/t Au (from 242.1m) (ARDH061) including 4.9m @ 21.4g/t Au. ARDH061 is 80m down-plunge from the previously identified high-grade gold zone of 17m @ 9.3g/t Au (ARDH026)1 and is 160m south of recently reported 24m @ 8.0g/t Au (ARDH051).
The F1a Zone now has multiple high-grade shoots defined by wide-spaced drilling over a 1.5km strike and to a depth of over 500m (open along strike and depth). Step-out and definition drilling is continuing with assay results pending for 13 drillholes, all of which intersected strong veining and alteration.
Pacgold notes that previous open-pit mining (30,000oz Au @ 5.6g/t Au) and shallow historical drilling (<100m deep) has only just ‘clipped’ the upper portions of one of the high-grade shoots. The company has recognised this vertical transition in the gold system provides an enormous opportunity not only at the F1a Zone but also along the more than 30km under-explored regional trend.
Schreck explains the discovery represents enormous opportunity for the company, with mineralisation already encountered along 7km of the 30km gold-bearing shear zone. Pacgold is focused on ‘unlocking the entire gold corridor’ at Alice River, he added.
“The project has been locked away for 20 years and we’re doing the first real serious drill program and our success partly is due to us being the first company to apply modern exploration models on the project.”
“The project has been locked away for 20 years and we’re doing the first real serious drill program and our success partly is due to us being the first company to apply modern exploration models”
By modernising the work being done at Alice River, Pacgold has discovered what were previously thought to be separate structures are in fact part of one, much larger gold system that was previously unrecognised.
“We’ve got a high-grade discovery, now we are highlighting it’s part of a much larger, huge gold system that we’re only just cracking the top of. We’re still putting out some of our best results to date in the past few months and we expect that to continue.”
The company’s share price peaked at just under $1 in January when it had released to the market some of its best drill results at the time. While the wet season, and global market challenges faced by all companies such as the Russia-Ukraine war, rising costs, and supply chain issues has affected its valuation since, Pacgold remains a top performing gold company.
Pacgold’s share price has soared since floating on the ASX and has been trading at about double its listing price. It is today (17 October) currently trading at $0.475 as of 12noon AWST.
Schreck said with the likes of institutional investors such as mining-focused private equity firm Resource Capital Funds coming on board to cornerstone its IPO, the company listed on the right footing.
“A big endorsement when we did IPO was that we had some really good institutional investor support and that continues. It really is great to have these institutions take up some decent positions in the company because they could see the opportunity early on and what we’ve executed over the past 12-15 months. Since the IPO we have delivered on everything we were meant to do.”
According to the company’s annual report released on 29 September, its major shareholders include Citicorp Nominees (9.27%), BNP Paribas Nominees (6.84%), and Equity Trustees Limited (Lowell Resources Fund A/C) (3.43%).
With experienced management, strong cash position of $11 million as of 30 June, and multiple rigs on site, Pacgold is starting to unpack just how large and open the gold system within its portfolio really is.
Schreck is a geologist with more than 30 years of precious and base metal exploration, business development and discovery experience in Australia and overseas, combined with extensive ASX-listed corporate management.
Law firm Allens advised Pacgold on its IPO.
IMARC will be held 2-4 November in Sydney. A discount code which is MINING offers 10% off standard delegate passes, or otherwise enables interested parties to receive an expo pass for free. Investors can apply for a complimentary investor pass to attend at https://imarcglobal.com/register.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Pacgold Limited
