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General Market Commentary
Drilling for Gold in Chile’s Prolific Maricunga
by Mike Fagan
Angold Resources (TSX-V: AAU) – currently trading below C$0.50 per share – is a newly-listed junior explorer that’s advancing the Dorado and Cordillera gold projects in Chile’s prolific Maricunga gold belt and the Iron Butte gold project in Nevada’s famed Battle Mountain trend.
The company is led by president & CEO, Adrian Rothwell, who is the former director of strategy at Goldcorp (now Newmont Corp.).
With several big mines headed toward production, the Maricunga gold belt of northern Chile is reemerging as the epicenter of gold mining operations in that country buoyed by a series of newly-proposed government-sponsored tax breaks designed to attract foreign investment in its mining sector.
That includes Kinross Gold’s La Coipa mine, which is projected to produce 690,000 ounces of gold-equivalent per year starting in 2022, and its Lobo-Marte project, which is projected to produce 4.5 million gold ounces over 15 years at all-in sustaining costs of US$745 per ounce.
The region’s other major project is the Norte Abierto alliance between Barrick and Newmont which aims to combine the undeveloped Caspiche and Cerro Casale deposits into a single operation. Together they offer proven and probable reserves of 23 million ounces gold-equivalent and 5.8 billion pounds of copper.
Angold’s flagship Dorado project is situated nearby to Kinross’s Lobo-Marte project — so as mining addresses go, Angold is absolutely in the heart of elephant country!
The Dorado project boasts a historical resource of about half a million gold ounces at half a gram per tonne, is open in most directions, and, up until now, has never been drilled to-depth.
Historically, there’s been some boomer holes at Dorado including 261 meters at 0.91 grams per tonne (g/t) gold; 192 meters at 0.72 g/t gold; and 318 meters at 0.68 g/t gold.
Angold has commenced its initial 5,000-meter drill program at Dorado, at the Lajitas target, to identify mineralization beyond historically reported resources and to confirm historic intercepts.
Angold CEO, Adrian Rothwell, whom you’ll be hearing more from in a moment, stated via press release:
"We have put an experienced team and seed capital to work early at Dorado, beginning regional exploration and sampling programs last year. This has highlighted a larger footprint to the resource areas than previously thought and will improve the success of this preliminary 5,000 m drill program. Dorado has the potential to host multiple multi-million ounce gold deposits in a geological setting that is now better understood than when previous operators worked on the central part of the project in the 1990's and 2000's. With additional staked ground (of about 15,000 ha), local logistical and technical teams, and infrastructure at site we are able to commence drilling quickly. We look forward to an exciting 2021!"
Additionally, in March, Angold expects to have the drills turning at its other flagship, the Iron Butte project in Nevada, which has a historic resource of about 600,000 gold ounces at around 0.62 g/t gold.
So lots of news flow on the way!
Our own Gerardo Del Real of Junior Resource Monthly sat down with Angold CEO, Adrian Rothwell, to discuss the two flagships, the resources, the drilling, and the opportunity… so please enjoy the interview which you can listen to here.
You can also learn more about Angold Resources here.
Yours in profits,
Mike Fagan
Editor, Resource Stock Digest
Mike Fagan has mining in his blood. As a teenager he staked countless gold and silver properties in Nevada alongside his dad, Brian Fagan, who created the Prospect Generator model that’s still widely used today in the resource space. One of those staking projects was put into production by a major Canadian mining company — a truly rare and profitable experience. That background uniquely qualifies him as a mining stock speculator. One of the most well-known names in the business, Mike is now putting that experience to use for the benefit of Resource Stock Digest and Hard Asset Digest readers.