Categories: Precious Metals
Topics: Gold Stocks

Tiger Gold (TSX-V: TIGR)(OTC: TGRGF) CEO Robert Vallis on Drilling, Increasing Resource & Upcoming PEA

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the President and CEO of Tiger Gold (TSX-V: TIGR)(OTC: TGRGF), Mr. Robert Vallis. Robert, it's great to have you on. How are you today?

Robert Vallis: I'm good, Gerardo. Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, listen, gold remains stubbornly above that $4,000 level that appears to be support now. It's a great time to be growing what's already a multimillion-ounce project. You just went ahead and completed the infill and extension program at Tesorito. Timely, timely update, so good to have you on. Can you give us some context on what you've gathered thus far from the program?

Robert Vallis: Yeah. Well, specifically talking about Tesorito's infill drilling program and expansion program, that's what it was. We had identified at acquisition that we'd need to get that resource, that one and a half million-ounce resource, upgraded to measured and indicated, be able to combine it with Miraflores and hopefully some other things which we do have, into the next stage of engineering, pre-feasibility and beyond. So we started infill drilling late last year. We've been doing that right through the balance of this year in parallel with other drilling, and we've completed it.

And of course, the news that's come out of that has indicated things that have not only met but exceeded our expectations. I guess number one would be that we were able to extend the pit's depth, and partially on strike, so we're adding tons, we're adding ounces. But as well in terms of quality of the resource, with the infill program we were able to determine that there was a lot more higher-grade mineralization there than the existing geologic model was informing, so that as well was a positive lift for it. So what we'll expect to see in early Q1 will be the updated and upgraded version of Tesorito.

Gerardo Del Real: You also have a PEA coming that I believe is scheduled for the end or near the end of the first quarter. That's actually going to include Tesorito, Ceibal and Miraflores. Can you speak to that a bit? I got to believe, with your background and in your experience, you got to be excited to be able to publish some first-peek-through-the-window numbers on potential economics.

Robert Vallis: Yes, without a doubt. I mean, myself and my COO, Rickardo Welyhorsky, we are both extremely excited, and look, it's why we're into this program. We saw, particularly myself, tremendous upside potential that, we just didn't know the scope and scale of it and still are learning that. But a year ago, we set out to get our arms around the scope and scale of our project and where the real potential is and then focus resources.

Well, after 18,000 meters in the first half of this year, instead of a 10,000-meter targeted, we did that with the same budget. We just were able to do it more efficiently. We learned enough to know that, well, from the historic drilling that was done immediately adjacent to Tesorito in an area that was called Ceibal, we knew there was a substantive, what was looking like a substantive expansion to the gold system. And so we said, "Okay, let's start testing there as we're achieve steady state with the infill drilling of Teso." And with that, we did, twinned a couple of holes and also did some step-outs from those historic drill results, and that certainly indicated and gave us enough evidence that, wow, there is something substantive here. And so we embarked on applying a lot more resources to that.

We set out to do a 15,000-meter drill campaign towards the target of achieving a maiden resource for the Ceibal deposit, and sure enough, we've been very aggressive with that. That 15,000 meters was also combined with another 4,500 meters for a total of a 19-and-a-half-thousand meter drill program for the second half of this year. We are very much through that now. Part of it was the completing Tesorito. Now that that's done, we're completing the 15,000 meters assigned to Ceibal. We should have that done by early November. So that's 19 and a half thousand meters drilled in less than six months. We have been very aggressive.

But with that, the results that we've been putting out steadily on the drilling results of Ceibal is nothing short of exciting, to your words. It is definitely indicating to us that we feel confident in saying that we likely have something near of the size and scale of Tesorito at a minimum. So with that, that is our target. And of course, now with the resources poured on it, we expect to have that drilling done, as I said, by November. And then of course, following Teso's updated resource, issuing probably early in Q1, following that, probably by mid Q1 will be a new maiden resource for the Ceibal deposit. Our PEA, which is targeted to come out following those two MREs, so let's say the end of Q1, will, as you said, incorporate Miraflores, Tesorito and Ceibal.

From that, we already know and are very excited about what that's going to demonstrate. For me and for our team, what we bring to the table in terms of the discipline and understanding we have about not only finding ounces, but really extracting real value from ounces, that's where the value of getting a technical report out right away on material resource updates is important. It shows the market, your shareholders, that you've not only found ounces of an extraordinary amount ... I mean, we're talking about nearly doubling our resources, just about 100% resource growth in less than a year ... but translating that through an updated PEA into something that we're fully expecting will be demonstrating a production scale north of 250,000 ounces. So approaching, if not exceeding, I don't know yet, doubling of the production from the first PEA we did late last year.

Along with that, of course, the similar exciting profit margins that are there, which would further demonstrate extraordinary value of a project there, particularly at the long-term pricing now, which is somewhere around 36, 3,700 an ounce. It is extraordinary. So that is certainly what we've been focused on in '26, which is not only understanding better our package, but identifying and now going after the capturing and crystallizing of material and significant resource growth and production growth.

Of course, when we complete that, we'll keep drilling throughout '27 with our three drills, back to exploration and discovery drilling. For sure, we're going to open a deep drilling campaign. Beneath these deposits, we're finding these millions of clustered of ounces on surface. Geologically, we believe, and many of our geologists do, that there has to be something lurking at depth, some sort of a feeder system, if you will. So we are going to be amping up our focus on that coming into the new year, as well as opening the door on the next newest adjacent targets right next to Ceibal. Right next to it is an exciting target called Chuscal that really hasn't been drilled, and it's got the largest gold footprint on surface that we've mapped out of anything on our property so far.

So we're clearly excited to keep peeling the layers of the onion, if you will, stepping away from the core placement of infrastructure and where the ounces are. Keep building on that, but it's a multipronged approach now. We'll step out away from Ceibal. We'll probably keep drilling a little bit around the fringes of Ceibal, to tighten that up for pre-feasibility that we're expecting to start in the second half of next year on all three of those deposits and carrying that PEA forward, PEA update. And the third drill will likely be stepping away from that clustered area, which in itself continues to give, but probing a lot of the tremendous upside we have throughout the rest of our property, where we do feel there's huge opportunity for not only similar-type deposit discovery, but also potentially higher-grade epithermal type discoveries as well, and at depth.

Gerardo Del Real: It's a whole heck of a lot of catalysts for the end of this year and to kick off what's going to be, I think, a transformational year for the company in 2027. Robert, absolute pleasure to get an update. Looking forward to doing it again here soon.

Robert Vallis: Thank you very much, Gerardo. I look forward to updating you further. Stay tuned. It's an exciting time for sure.

Gerardo Del Real: Thanks again. Cheers.

Robert Vallis: Take care.

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