NASDAQ: USGO
Advancing the Whistler Gold-Copper
Porphyry Project in Alaska, USA
With gold fast approaching record highs above US$2,000 per ounce, newly-IPOd US GoldMining Inc. (NASDAQ: USGO) is advancing its flagship, 100%-owned Whistler Gold-Copper Project located approximately 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
By any standard, Whistler is considered a large precious and base metals project with Indicated resources of ~3 million gold equivalent ounces and Inferred resources of ~6.5 million gold equivalent ounces covering an expansive regional land package.
The project comprises a cluster of gold and gold-copper porphyries in a mineral-rich region of southern Alaska that’s wide open for development with multiple operators/deposits in the surrounding area.
A base camp and gravel airstrip has been established for field programs at Whistler with plans being formulated for a fully-funded two-year exploration and drilling program across multiple high-priority targets.
The last time Whistler saw extensive drilling activity was around a decade ago, which presents a new and timely opportunity for the application of advanced regional geologic models and technical findings by US GoldMining — which, by the way, shares some of the same management and board members as GoldMining Inc. — to unlock value for Whistler and USGO shareholders in a rising gold environment.
As noted, US GoldMining Inc. (NASDAQ: USGO) is a brand new issue, having been spun out of GoldMining Inc. (TSX: GOLD)(NYSE-Amer: GLDG) in Q1 of this year.
US GoldMining completed the IPO process in April, raising US$20 million (20 million units at US$10 per unit), and listing on the NASDAQ. The stock has performed exceptionally well out of the gate with a strong push above the US$15 per share level at the time of this writing for a current market cap of about US$165 million.
Proceeds from the recently completed IPO will be used primarily to fund exploration and development activities, including drilling, at the fully permitted, 53,700 acre (217 sq km) Whistler project.
Importantly, US GoldMining IPOd at a very opportunistic valuation of approximately US$10 per ounce in the ground.
As you’re about to discover in our exclusive interview with CEO Tim Smith, there exists significant growth potential to advance the Whistler project towards a more standard valuation for projects at this stage of development, which is currently in the range of US$40 to US$50 per ounce in the ground.
In fact, the neighboring Coffee Gold Deposit in the Yukon (which you can view its location in the map at the top of this report and which USGO CEO Tim Smith had a major hand in the initial discovery) was acquired for well over US$100 per ounce in the ground.
Hence, the growth potential, purely from a per-ounce valuation, is readily apparent; more on that later in our exclusive interview.
To-date, mineral resources have been estimated at three gold-copper porphyry deposits at the district-scale Whistler project: Whistler, Raintree West, and Island Mountain.
Several additional geophysical and geochemical targets warranting follow-up drilling have also been identified by way of mineralized drill intersections from historical drilling.
Importantly, US GoldMining is led by a group of highly experienced mining professionals with an established track record of discovering and advancing significant gold systems primarily in North America and Australia.
It’s a team that knows and understands the intricacies of Alaska’s complex mineral-laden geology, and they’re eager to get the drills turning on this large, high-potential gold-copper porphyry project.
The team includes US GoldMining CEO Tim Smith — whom you’re about to hear from directly in our exclusive interview coming right up — who previously led Kaminak’s field team to the discovery of the aforementioned Coffee Gold Deposit in Yukon, Canada.
Whistler Project: Advanced Stage & Drill Ready
The Whistler Gold-Copper Project — which was initially acquired by GoldMining Inc. back in 2015 when gold was roughly US$1,000 an ounce — has seen 70,000 meters of historical drilling and boasts potential for high-grade epithermal gold-copper mineralization similar to other large porphyry deposits in the area.
District Scale Whistler Project - Snapshot:
Commodity: Gold, Copper
Ownership: 100%
Location: Alaska
Infrastructure: Winter road, airstrip, camp
Property Size: 53,700 acres (217 sq km)
Deposit Type: Gold-Copper Porphyry
Of course, gold is currently trading more than 2X that level, which further underpins the opportunity at-hand for US GoldMining and for resource speculators seeking exposure to gold exploration in a tier-one mining jurisdiction.
As noted, Whistler is an advanced-stage project boasting Indicated mineral resources of 1.94 million ounces of gold, 8.33 million ounces of silver, and 422.0 million pounds of copper (118.2 million tonnes grading 0.51 g/t gold, 2.19 g/t silver, and 0.16% copper).
The project contains additional Inferred mineral resources of 4.67 million ounces of gold, 16.06 million ounces of silver, and 711.4 million pounds of copper (317.0 million tonnes grading 0.46 g/t gold, 1.58 g/t silver, and 0.10% copper).
On an equivalent basis, the Whistler project has Indicated resources of 2.99 million gold equivalent ounces (AuEq oz) and Inferred resources of 6.45 million AuEq oz.
The US GoldMining team is committed to advancing the project, which spans 377 mineral claims, from the current resource stage through to mine scoping studies and the delivery of a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment).
As you’re about to discover in our interview with CEO Tim Smith, the state of Alaska, as part of its Roads-to-Resources initiative, has approved a US$8.5M budget for a road design study that would connect the Whistler project directly with the city of Anchorage and Port MacKenzie — a major Alaskan port.
Smith believes the access road — which has a proposed construction start of 2025 — would be a bona fide game changer for the Whistler project (see below).
The Importance of Jurisdiction Cannot be Overstated
Jurisdiction is of paramount concern to both mineral exploration companies and resource stock speculators alike.
In today’s climate of heightened geopolitical and jurisdictional risk throughout the world, US GoldMining Inc. and USGO shareholders can take added comfort knowing that the Whistler project is situated within the ultra-safe confines of Alaska, USA — one of the top mining jurisdictions on the planet.
In fact, according to the Fraser Institute’s 2021 Annual Survey of Mining Companies (Published 12 April 2022) Alaska ranks:
- #2 Worldwide for Best Practices Mineral Potential Index (Geological Potential)
- #4 Worldwide for Overall Investment Attractiveness
Buoyed by Alaska’s pro-mining state legislature, the Whistler project is poised to accrete additional value going forward via exploration growth, increase in resource quality through infill drilling, and project de-risking by way of completion of mining, environmental, and heritage studies.
Advancing Whistler from the current resource stage to scoping study status — and accreting additional value via exploration growth and capitalizing on the project’s location and access to proposed infrastructure development — should further drive increased valuation in the flagship asset.
With a team of professional geologists and geoscientists with over a century of combined experience leading the charge forward — the 53,700 acre Whistler Gold-Copper Project is in very capable hands.
TIM SMITH
BSc, MSc (Hon), PGeo
CEO, US GoldMining Inc.
Professional geoscientist with over 25 years of experience in mineral exploration and mining and a track record of discovery and mine development of major gold systems in Australia and Canada with junior, mid-tier, and major mining companies including Goldcorp and Newmont. Previously, Tim served as VP Exploration with Kaminak Gold where he led the field team to the discovery of the aforementioned Coffee Gold Deposit in Yukon, Canada.
ALASTAIR HILL
BSc (Hon), MSc, PGeo
Chairman, US GoldMining Inc.
Professional geologist with over 25 years of experience in corporate and project development, exploration, and mine operations with Goldcorp, Placer Dome, and Kinross. Current CEO of GoldMining Inc. and Director of Technical Services at Gold Royalty Corp (GROY). Former Newmont Director of Corporate Development.
GARNET DAWSON
Bsc, MSc, PGeo
Board Member, US GoldMining Inc.
Professional geologist with over 30 years in exploration and mining with senior and junior mining companies in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Previous CEO and current Board Member of GoldMining Inc.
LAURA SCHMIDT
BSc, MSc, JD, PE
Board Member, US GoldMining Inc.
Global executive with over 30 years of experience in the resource industry. Ms. Schmidt has held numerous senior positions with Shell, including as VP Alaska. Ms. Schmidt retains her primary residence in Alaska.
DR. ROSS SHERLOCK
PhD, PGeo
Board Member, US GoldMining Inc.
Professional geologist with more than 30 years of experience, including senior positions with Kinross and Gold Fields. Dr. Sherlock is currently Professor and Director of the Mineral Exploration Research Centre at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.
LISA WADE
BSc, MSc
Board Member, US GoldMining Inc.
Environmental engineer with over 25 years of experience in the mining industry including as former VP of Environmental, Reclamation & Closure for Goldcorp. Ms. Wade is an entrepreneurial businessperson who also serves on the Montana Tech Alumni Industrial Advisory Board.
In mining, you want to invest in serially successful people; that is, people who’ve made large-scale mineral discoveries in the past and who’ve advanced those projects through the various stages of development to the benefit of stakeholders.
As you’re about to discover firsthand, the US GoldMining team offers that type of industry expertise and boots-on-the-ground experience in spades.
Exclusive Interview with
US GoldMining Inc. CEO Tim Smith
US GoldMining’s highly adept management team, led by CEO Tim Smith, has the company well-positioned for growth as it advances its flagship project in America’s 49th state.
Our own Gerardo Del Real of Resource Stock Digest and Junior Resource Monthly recently caught up with Mr. Smith for an in-depth discussion on the current gold bull market, the newly-completed IPO, and next-steps in the advancement of the company’s 100%-owned Whistler Gold-Copper Project.
We hope you’ll enjoy the conversation.
Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of US GoldMining — Mr. Tim Smith. Tim, it's great to have you on. It's been a while since we chatted. I’ve got to say, sir, your timing is phenomenal with this IPO. How are you doing today?
Tim Smith: Doing very well… and thank you, Gerardo, for having me on the show today. Really excited to have an opportunity to raise awareness for our new company — US GoldMining, Inc.
And look, you're bang on… superb timing! We're fresh off of our IPO as of April 2023… a brand new company ready to go. Very excited to start putting plans together to really showcase and crystallize value for our shareholders.
Gerardo Del Real: The gold price continues to flirt with that US$2,000 level and — despite a dollar index that's firmly above 100 — continues to hold up well. I actually believe that the second half of this year has us due for a breakout that will likely lead to new all-time highs. How are you feeling about the gold space and the precious metals space?
Tim Smith: Yeah, I think it's been just an amazing year so far. Looking at the strength in the gold price over the past two months — wow!
We've seen well over a US$200 per ounce increase since the start of April. Most recently, it has peaked above US$2,000 a couple of times at a high of around US$2,040 per ounce. It has settled just below US$2,000 for the last couple of weeks. But I think we're really starting to build a good, strong base here.
[Editor’s Note: Gold has since moved firmly above US$2,000 per ounce and is closing in on record highs]
Gerardo Del Real: You have a market cap of just over US$100 million. US$20 million of that is backed by cash. You're clearly not getting the value for your 9.4 million ounces of gold — gold resource equivalent, I should say — that a lot of your peers are.
[Editor’s Note: US GoldMining’s current market cap is around US$160M]
You and I exchanged notes, and last I checked, it looks like you're getting about US$10 an ounce in credit. The global median, of course, is roughly US$40 an ounce. How do you plan on unlocking the value?
Tim Smith: Yes, great question. That US$10 per ounce valuation leaves a lot of upside on the table for the company and our shareholders to crystallize that value. US$10 per ounce, I think, provided great value for the IPO. And we received a very enthusiastic response, which is really a testament to the quality of the asset.
And from where that enterprise value sits right now, we see significant growth potential as we advance the project towards an average valuation, which we see in the market for a development-stage asset to be closer to US$40 to US$50 per ounce. And by development stage, I mean projects that are heading into PEA… so resources are defined and economics are starting to be wrapped around that.
As that work continues into pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, we then see broadly in the market another multiple increase to around US$100 an ounce. And this is the multiple that I guess we see for advanced-stage assets with a clear line of sight through to mine production.
And if I can add an example of that, when I was the VP Exploration for Kaminak Resources back in 2016, Gold Corp. acquired that company's Coffee Gold Project located next door to our asset in Yukon.
And essentially, the acquisition price was around C$550 million, which equated to well over US$100 per ounce. I think it was around US$130 per ounce for the 3 million ounces in the Indicated resources of that project at that time.
And certainly, we've seen plenty more examples throughout the industry over the past several years where larger companies tend to pay well over US$100 per ounce for quality ounces in quality jurisdictions.
So I think that's really why our IPO was so successful at US$10 an ounce. It was a very attractive offering where the shareholders and the company see so much room for growth.
This is a company in Alaska with all of the infrastructure that the state is willing to support coupled with a really quality asset in the Whistler Gold-Copper asset. So we just think there's tremendous upside here.
Gerardo Del Real: You mentioned the jurisdiction; the very mining-friendly state of Alaska. My old stomping grounds, actually. I spent 17 years in Anchorage, Alaska. The project, I believe, is roughly 105 miles northwest of Anchorage. Anything else that you want to add, Tim?
I really appreciate you taking the time. There's clearly a lot of runway between a US$10 gold equivalent ounce valuation and a US$100 gold equivalent ounce valuation. I mean, we can all do the math, right? There's tenfold potential there if you're able to advance the project the way that you want to advance the project.
I should mention that the team is top-notch. It's a group of individuals that have a track record for developing projects and monetizing assets. Anything to add to that?
Tim Smith: Yeah, just a couple of things. You touched on Alaska. There's so much geopolitical tension in the world right now. Not only does this mean that gold as a haven, or a store of value, should increase in price but it also means that our strategy aligns well with investors wanting to own assets like Whistler, which is located in one of the safest jurisdictions in the world.
It really doesn't get any safer or more mining-friendly than Alaska. It's vast… it’s blessed with natural resources… and it's a great place to do business.
And one example of that is the state's Roads-to-Resources initiative. Essentially, over the last couple of years, the state has put US$8.5 million into a road design that will connect the Whistler Gold-Copper Project with Anchorage. This is a potential game changer for US GoldMining.
And the key with that is not only will that road allow us to supply the mine but it will directly link the mine with an existing port facility at Port MacKenzie, which lies at the eastern end of the road. So we’re very excited about that.
The state also recently announced that it expects to commence construction of that road leading directly to Whistler as early as 2025. So we're working closely with the state and looking forward to keeping our shareholders updated as news progresses with that.
Gerardo Del Real: Tim, I want to thank you for your time. I also want to invite you to come back on as you continue with what I suspect is going to be a 2023 full of news flow.
Tim Smith: Fantastic. Delighted to come back any time. Thanks so much for your time today, Gerardo.
Gerardo Del Real: Appreciate it, Tim. Thank you.
The Opportunity
US GoldMining Inc. (NASDAQ: USGO) is advancing the flagship, 100%-owned Whistler Gold-Copper Project located approximately 100 miles northwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
In terms of mining address, it really doesn’t get any better or safer than Alaska.
The state’s rich mineral endowment means that there are plenty of major mining companies and deposits of merit in the area surrounding the company’s grouping of 377 mineral claims that make up the Whistler Gold-Copper Project.
As detailed in this Special Report, the advanced-stage project benefits from over 70,000 meters of historical drilling and boasts potential for high-grade epithermal gold-copper mineralization in clusters similar to other large porphyry deposits in the area.
The company is fresh off a highly successful IPO, which raised US$20 million at a valuation of just US$10 per ounce in the ground.
You heard directly from US GoldMining CEO, Tim Smith. He says,
“That US$10 per ounce valuation leaves a lot of upside on the table for the company and our shareholders to crystallize that value. US$10 per ounce, I think, provided great value for the IPO. And we received a very enthusiastic response, which is really a testament to the quality of the asset. And from where that enterprise value sits right now, we see significant growth potential as we advance the project towards an average valuation, which we see in the market for a development stage asset to be closer to US$40 to US$50 per ounce.”
As discussed, gold is in a confirmed bull market… rallying from US$1,300 to US$2,000+ an ounce since Q2 2019. The yellow metal is presently closing in on all-time highs just below US$2,100 per ounce, which only adds to the opportunity at-hand for US GoldMining and USGO shareholders.
Keep in mind also that the healthiest commodity bull markets are ones that grind upward — not shoot straight up — and the above chart indeed shows that gold is grinding its way higher.
With the yellow metal flexing its muscles, it’s easy to see the value of owning shares in a company like US GoldMining Inc., which is highly-leveraged to the price of the gold with an asset boasting Indicated resources of 2.99 million gold equivalent ounces and Inferred resources of 6.45 million gold equivalent ounces.
In the resource space, and particularly among the small caps or “juniors,” you’re only as good as the people running the show — and we firmly believe US GoldMining Inc. has the right personnel at the controls to build value for USGO shareholders going forward.
The company is well structured with only 14.1 million shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis with ~85% of those shares with management, founders, and resource-focused financial institutions, including Sprott, H.C. Wainwright, BMO, and Laurentian Bank.
For investors seeking exposure to a rising gold market — US GoldMining Inc. holds tremendous upside potential from current price levels as it advances the fully permitted Whistler Gold-Copper Project in mining-friendly Alaska.
The company’s shares trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol USGO.
For additional information on Vancouver-based US GoldMining Inc. and to start your own due diligence, be sure to contact the company’s IR department at 604-388-9788 or via email at info@us.goldmining.com.
Sign up to receive updates directly from the company at the US GoldMining corporate website.
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