
May 23, 2024
Aurum Resources Limited (ASX: AUE) (Aurum) is pleased to report further shallow, wide gold intercepts from diamond holes at BD Target 2 as part of ongoing diamond drilling at its Boundiali Gold Project in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa.
Highlights
- Assay results for scout and step-back diamond drilling (18 holes for 3070m) drilled at BD Target 2 on the Boundiali BD tenement report multiple shallow, wide gold hits1 including:
- 74m @ 1.00 g/t Au from 167m inc. 1m @ 24.73 g/t Au (DSDD0044) & 6m @ 3.31 g/t Au from 99m & 8m @ 1.51 g/t Au from 71m
- 33m @ 0.84 g/t Au from 146m inc. 1m @ 9.95 g/t Au (DSDD0046)
- 1m @ 10.01 g/t Au from 71m (DSDD0024)
- BD Target 2 is a 1.7km long by 1km wide gold prospect with artisanal workings (~6km north of BD Target 1)
- More assay results from drilling at BD Target 1 expected over the coming weeks
- Drill program is ongoing with 30,000m of diamond drilling planned for this year
- Aurum currently has three diamond drill rigs, drilling at ~4,000m per month and will soon increase to four diamond drill rigs drilling ~6,000m per month
- Aurum is targeting an initial Mineral Resource Estimate for Boundiali in late CY2024
- Aurum has a strong cash balance of ~A$5M (unaudited) to support its aggressive drill program.
Aurum’s Managing Director Dr. Caigen Wang said: “We are very pleased to see BD Target 2 is shaping up nicely with good, wide intercepts from 100m line spacing diamond holes confirming the gold system is open along strike and continues at depth. These new shallow, wide gold intercepts prove the gold system continues in fresh rock underneath shallow oxide RC drilling (30 holes for 2,057m) drilled by previous explorers.
Follow-up drilling is required to chase the system along strike and at depth as well as areas where our team has identified artisanal workings. BD Target 2 is about 6km to the north of BD Target 1, where we intercepted 73m @ 2.15g/t Au from 172m (DSDD0012) (Refer to Figure 3). These prospects sit within a 13km by 3km gold mineralised corridor the majority of which has not yet been tested by drilling.
We are well funded and supported by our shareholders and with our three diamond rigs targeting around 4,000m of drilling per month. Given the encouraging results to date, we are confident to add new targets on the BD and BM tenements whilst we drill towards our target of delivering inaugural JORC resources for the Boundiali project by late 2024.”
Figure 1: Section S10596307N showing previous drilling (white) and latest drill intersection (yellow) –BD Target 2
Latest BD Target 2 Drill Results
Assay results for drilling reported in this release are for wide line spaced (100m) diamond holes (18 holes for 3070m) drilled at BD Target 2. These new results are in addition to the assays previously released on 23 April 2024 (15 holes for 2,815m), with a total of 33 holes for 5,885.48m reported to date.
Aurum is performing diamond drilling using its own drill rigs and personnel to evaluate a 1.6km long by 1km wide gold prospect, which was defined by earlier explorers from soil samples, trenching and RC drilling. The prospect sits within a larger 13km by 3km gold mineralised corridor (which includes three gold prospects currently being drill tested), the majority of which is still to be drill tested.
Diamond drilling has intersected the same volcano sedimentary package seen at BD Target 1 and mineralisation is characterised by broad alteration rich in hematite + chlorite + tourmaline + quartz + albite and carbonate. Mineralisation at both BD Target 1 and BD Target 2 appear to be controlled by N-S trending structures and there has also been an intense activity of artisanal miners targeting oxide mineralisation.
Diamond drilling is conducted with NTW drill core and collared at the surface with HQ sized equipment. All drill holes were field logged by company geologists with lithological, alteration, mineralogical as well as sulphide content recorded. Geotechnical and structural data has been recorded and photography and recovery measurements were conducted by assistants under a geologist’s supervision.
NTW core is cut in half using a core saw and the core was sampled to major geological intervals as defined by the geologist at 1m sample intervals, although some niche sampling of quartz veins associated with visible gold has been undertaken. Typically diamond core samples are prepared, sub sample and assayed by Intertek in Ghana using fire assay techniques on a 50g sample.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Aurum Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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02 July
Aurum Resources
Investor Insights
Aurum Resources offers a compelling value proposition through its highly prospective gold assets in Côte d'Ivoire, a fast-emerging gold region in West Africa. Its cost-effective exploration strategy of drill rig ownership also distinguishes it from its peers.
Overview
Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE) is a mineral exploration company primarily focused on gold through its Boundiali and Napié gold projects in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
Côte d'Ivoire's gold mining sector is experiencing significant growth and development, with several key projects contributing to the country's economic expansion. The overall gold mining sector in Côte d'Ivoire is supported by substantial investments in infrastructure and exploration.
Geopolitically, Côte d'Ivoire outperforms most developing countries in the world in political, legal, tax and operational risk metrics. Additionally, Côte d'Ivoire continues to make notable strides in its political stability and Absence of Violence and Terrorism Index.
Boundiali Gold Project – BD Target 1 Artisanal Working
Aurum has entered into a Bid Implementation Agreement with Mako Gold for Aurum to acquire 100 percent of the issued shares in Mako. This proposed merger will allow both Aurum and Mako security holders to benefit from the combination of Aurum’s strong balance sheet and exceptional drilling efficiencies with AU$23 million in cash at the end of December 2024 to support work programs targeted at further resource definition across Aurum and Mako’s assets in northern Côte d'Ivoire. Aurum is currently in its final phase of compulsory acquisition of remaining Mako shares after it received over 90 percent acceptance of MKG shares in late January 2025.
Following its takeover of Mako Gold, Aurum holds 90 percent of the Napié Project located 30 km southeast of the city of Korhogo and covers a strike length of 30 km over a highly prospective land package of 224 sq km.
The merger is backed by a highly experienced board and management team with extensive gold experience from grassroots discovery, through to resource drill-out, feasibility studies, project finance, and production.
With a strong financial position backed by the recent $35.6 million private placement, Aurum is well-funded to execute exploration and development plans focused on delivering value for shareholders through resource growth and project advancement.
Company Highlights
- Aurum Resources is a precious metals company with exploration prospects in the same greenstone belt as the Syama (11.5 Moz), Sissingué (1.0 Moz), Tongon (5.0 Moz) and Kone Gold (4.5 Moz) deposits of West Africa.
- A total of 2.5Moz gold resource in Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa:
- Boundiali - 1.6Moz Gold Project
- Napié - 0.87Moz Gold Project
- Aurum operates its own drill rigs, allowing the company to significantly reduce its exploration costs relative to peers.
- Management has a track record of creating value for shareholders from exploration through to project development, mine construction and gold production.
- Strong leverage to increasing gold prices that will benefit from a declining interest rate environment and rising global geopolitical risk factors.
- Well-funded for more than 12 months and over 100,000 metres of diamond drilling programs and metallurgical study
- Aurum’s acquisition of 100 percent of Mako Gold’s issued shares (ASX:MKG) is in its final stage of compulsory acquisition of the remaining MKG shares after Aurum received over 90 percent acceptance in late January 2025.
Key Projects
Boundali Gold Project
The Boundiali gold project in Cote d’Ivoire is located within the Boundiali Greenstone Belt, which hosts Resolute’s Syama gold operation (11.5 Moz) and the Tabakoroni deposit (1 Moz) in Mali. Neighbouring assets also include Barrick’s Tongon mine (5 Moz) and Montage Gold’s Kone project (4.5 Moz).
The Boundiali project area covers the underexplored southern extension of the Boundiali belt, where a highly deformed synclinal greenstone horizon traverses finer-grained basin sediments, and to the west, Tarkwaian clastic rocks lie in contact with a granitic margin. The project benefits from year-round road access and excellent infrastructure.
The first stage of drilling at Boundiali occurred from late October 2023 to end of November 2024 for both the BM and BD tenements (BM1 and BM2; BD1, BD2 and BD3 targets) and was designed to test below-gold-in-soil anomalies oriented along NE trending structures, define new gold prospects and define maiden JORC resources. With over 63,000m diamond holes drilled during this period, Maiden JORC gold resources estimate was delivered in late December 2024.
Drilling costs are estimated at US$45 per metre, as Aurum owns all of its eight drilling rigs and employs its operators, representing a significant value proposition relative to peers who use commercial drilling companies that charge upwards of $200 per meter. The company believes there is potential for multi-million ounce gold resources to be defined with hundreds thousands meters of drilling over years within the Boundiali Gold Project’s land holding areas.
The Boundiali gold project comprises four contiguous granted licenses: PR0808 (80 percent interest), PR0893 (80 percent and earning to 88 percent interest), PR414 (100 percent interest), and PR283 (earning to 70 percent interest). Historic exploration at PR0893 includes 93 AC drill holes and four RC holes. Airborne geophysical surveying, geological mapping and extensive soil sampling have also been performed at PR0893, while PR0808 has had 91 RC holes drilled for 6,229 metres along with geochemical analysis and modeling. Detailed geochemical sampling and drilling at PR414 revealed three strong gold anomalies and returned impressive high-grade results.
Following the renewal of its Boundali South (BST) exploration licence in September 2024, drilling at the Nyangboue deposit is planned for H1 2025 and H2 2025. Previous exploration at BST has returned impressive results, including 20 m at 10.45 g/t gold from 38 meters, and 30 m at 8.30 g/t gold from 39 m.
In May 2024, Aurum entered a strategic partnership agreement to earn up to a 70 percent interest in exploration tenement PR283, to be renamed Boundiali North (BN). Aurum, through subsidiary Plusor Global Pty Ltd, has partnered with Ivorian company Geb & Nut Resources Sarl and related party (GNRR) to explore and develop the Boundiali North (BN) tenement which covers 208.87sq km immediately north of Aurum’s BD tenement. Further to this agreement,
Aurum announced it has earned 80 percent project interest after completing more than 20,000 m of diamond core drilling.
Boundiali Project JORC Mineral Resource Estimate
Aurum has announced a maiden independent JORC mineral resource estimate of 1.59 Moz gold for its 1,037 sq. km. The Boundiali Gold Project comprises the BST, BDT1 & BDT2, BMT1 and BMT3 deposits. Drilling is ongoing on these deposits, and Aurum has identified other prospects at Boundiali which have yet to be drilled. Since October 2023, the company has completed an extensive 63,927-metre diamond drilling program. This aggressive exploration campaign has rapidly defined a significant gold resource of 50.9 Mt @ 1.0 g/t gold for 1.6 million ounces.
Growth Plans for the Boundali Project:
- Aggressive cost-effective exploration at Boundiali: Aurum is committed to a large-scale exploration program at Boundiali. This includes:
- 100,000 m diamond drilling: Up to eight diamond drill rigs will complete 100,000m of drilling at Boundiali in 2025. The program has multiple aims:
- Increase the size and confidence of current resources at BST, BD, and BM (40,000m).
- Advance known prospects (30,000m) for incorporation into two planned MRE updates in 2025.
- Target new prospects identified through soil anomalies and geological mapping to drive resource growth into 2026 (30,000m).
- Resource expansion: Drilling aims to expand the known resources at the BST, BD, and BM deposits.
- New discoveries: Exploration and scout drilling is planned on BD, BM and BST tenements to test new targets and create a pipeline of new discoveries to flow into resource growth.
- Boundiali resource updates: Aurum plans to deliver two MRE updates for Boundiali in 2025.
- Pre-Feasibility Study: Aurum is working towards completing an open pit PFS for the Boundiali Gold Project by the end of 2025. This will provide an evaluation of the project's economics and technical feasibility.
- 100,000 m diamond drilling: Up to eight diamond drill rigs will complete 100,000m of drilling at Boundiali in 2025. The program has multiple aims:
Napié Gold Project
Aurum holds a 90 percent interest in the Napié Project in north-central Côte d’Ivoire, acquired through its takeover of Mako Gold. Located approximately 30 km southeast of Korhogo, the project covers a 224 sq km land package with a 30 km strike length along the highly prospective Napié Shear Zone.
As of June 2022, Napié hosts a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate of 868,000 ounces of gold (22.5 Mt at 1.20 g/t Au), based on the Tchaga and Gogbala deposits—two of four known prospects along the shear. To date, only 13% of the Napié Shear has been explored, leaving substantial potential for further discoveries.
Napié Project – Previous results with detailed mapping area on Komboro Prospect shown in black rectangle
Project Highlights:
- Gold Resource: Shallow open pit 0.87Moz JORC Resource at 1.20g/t Au, with mineralisation open along strike and at depth. Maximum resource depth between 160 m – 195m across the two deposits
- Exploration Upside: Less than 13 percent of the 30 km Napié Shear has been explored, offering significant potential for resource growth.
- Drilling Commenced in June 2025: 30,000 m of diamond drilling has commenced to expand the project's resource.
- Preliminary Recovery Test Work: Returned more than 94 percent average gold recoveries.
- Resource Growth Target: First MRE update planned end of 2025, to significantly expand the resource base.
- Infrastructure: Excellent access to hydroelectricity, roads, and water, supporting future development.
Management Team
Troy Flannery – Non-Executive Chairman
Troy Flannery has more than 25 years’ experience in the mining industry, including nine years in corporate and 17 years in senior mining engineering and project development roles. He has a degree in mining engineering, masters in finance, and first class mine managers certificate of competency. Flannery has performed non-executive director roles with numerous ASX listed companies and was the CEO of Abra Mining until October 2021. He has worked at numerous mining companies, mining consultancy and contractors, including BHP, Newcrest, Xstrata, St Barbara Mines and AMC Consultants.
Dr. Caigen Wang – Managing Director
Dr. Caigen Wang founded Tietto Minerals (ASX:TIE), where he led the company as managing director for 13 years through private exploration, ASX listing, gold resource definition, project study and mine building to become one of Africa’s newest gold producers at its Abujar gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire. He holds a bachelor, masters and PhD in mining engineering. He is a fellow of AusIMM and a chartered professional engineer of Institution of Engineer, Australia. Wang has 13 years of mining academic experience in China University of Mining and Technology, Western Australia School of Mine and University of Alberta, and over 20 years of practical experience in mining engineering and mineral exploration in Australia, China and Africa. Other professional experience includes senior technical and management roles in mining houses, including St. Barbara, Sons of Gwalia, BHP Billiton, China Goldmines PLC and others.
Mark Strizek – Executive Director
Mark Strizek has nearly 30 years’ experience in the resource industry, having worked as a geologist on various gold, base metal and technology metal projects. He brings invaluable geological, technical and development expertise to Aurum, most recently as an executive director at Tietto Minerals’, which progressed from an IPO to gold production at the Abujar gold project in West Africa. Strizek has worked as an executive with management and board responsibilities in exploration, feasibility, finance and development-ready assets across Australia, West Africa, Asia and Europe.
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Game-changing gold exploration at prolific Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.
1h
Pacgold: Advancing the Alice River Gold Project in Northern Queensland with Tier 1 Discovery Potential
Pacgold (ASX:PGO) is an Australian gold exploration company advancing the high-potential Alice River Gold Project in Northern Queensland. Led by a technically driven and experienced team with proven success across exploration, resource development, and capital markets, Pacgold is applying a systematic, discovery-focused approach to unlock the project’s value.
The company holds a dominant 377 sq km land package, including eight mining leases, along the highly prospective Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ) — a major structural corridor interpreted to host an intrusion-related gold system analogous to globally significant deposits such as Fort Knox (USA) and Hemi (WA).
The Alice River Gold Project is a large-scale, greenstone-hosted gold system located in Northern Queensland, centered along the regionally significant Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ). The project covers 377 sq km of contiguous tenure, including eight granted mining leases.
Pacgold controls over 30 km of strike length along the ARFZ — a major crustal-scale structure that has only recently been the focus of systematic exploration using modern techniques, offering significant untapped discovery potential.
Company Highlights
- District-scale Discovery Potential: Pacgold controls more than 377 sq km of tenure and more than 30 km of strike length across the Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ), a fertile, underexplored structural corridor in Northern Queensland.
- Maiden Resource: In May 2025, the company published a 474,000 oz gold mineral resource estimate (MRE), covering just five percent of the total strike, confirming high-grade mineralization and strong potential for expansion.
- Aggressive Exploration Strategy: More than 10,000 metres of RC drilling campaign is underway, complemented by air-core and diamond programs, aimed at growing the Central Zone resource and testing multiple regional targets.
- Attractive Valuation Entry: With a market capitalization of just ~AU$10 million and an EV of AU$8.5 million (as of Q1 2025), Pacgold provides a low-cost entry into a potentially Tier 1 gold system.
- Experienced Leadership: The board includes proven mine developers and discovery geologists with prior success at Chalice, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP and Sibanye-Stillwater.
This Pacgold profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*
Click here to connect with Pacgold (ASX:PGO) to receive an Investor Presentation
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14h
High-Grade Gold Discovery in First 8 Mile Drill Hole
Miramar Resources Limited (ASX:M2R, “Miramar” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that the first RC drill hole at the 8 Mile target has intersected high-grade gold and ended in mineralisation.
- First RC hole at 8 Mile discovers high-grade gold and ends in mineralisation
- 8 Mile gold mineralisation extends 75m north of tenement boundary
The 8 Mile target is located within the Gidji JV Project (“Gidji” or “the Project”), approximately 15 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and surrounded by multiple gold mining and processing operations, including Northern Star Resources Limited’s (“NST”) Kalgoorlie gold operations (Figure 1).
The 8 Mile Target is located immediately adjacent to NST’s “8-Mile Dam” gold deposit which, according to the most recent publicly available data, contains an estimated 7Mt @ 1.4g/t Au for 313,977 ounces1.
A limited number of fast-tracked results from the first RC hole, GJRC029, show a wide zone of gold mineralisation with a similar tenor to 8 Mile Dam (18m @ 0.94g/t Au from 480m including 1m @ 6.04g/t Au), approximately 75m north of the tenement boundary, and ended in mineralisation (3m @ 0.52g/t Au).
The Company is awaiting assay results from the remainder of the hole which are expected in 2-3 weeks.
Miramar’s Executive Chairman, Mr Allan Kelly, said the Company was excited to see gold mineralisation continuing onto Miramar’s ground for a significant distance.
“This is the first time we have discovered significant gold mineralisation on our side of the fence, even though the drill hole didn’t end up exactly where we planned it to. The flip side of this is that we have extended the strike of gold mineralisation for over 100m on to our tenements,” he said.
“We’ve also demonstrated a relationship between the IP anomalism and gold mineralisation, which makes the other IP anomalies we have outlined at Gidji even more prospective,” he said.
Figure 1. The Gidji JV Project and 8-Mile Dam in relation to Kalgoorlie and surrounding deposits.
GJRC029 aimed to test an Induced Polarisation (IP) anomaly on the tenement boundary interpreted to represent the sulphide-rich gold mineralisation seen at the neighbouring 8 Mile Dam Deposit.
GJRC029 was collared approximately 10m north of the tenement boundary and mirrored MPGD008, a diamond hole drilled down-dip approximately 40m south of the tenement boundary by KCGM in 2013 and which intersected significant gold mineralisation related to the 8 Mile mafic unit.
Unfortunately, GJRC029 deviated significantly from the planned azimuth and, as a result, by the time the hole was terminated at the target depth of 504m, the drill trace ended up approximately 75m north of the tenement boundary (Figure 2). Despite this, the hole intersected a thick section of the steep westerly- dipping and highly altered 8 Mile mafic unit with widespread sulphide mineralisation, including disseminated magnetite and coarse-grained arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite, similar to the 8 Mile Dam Deposit (Figure 3).
Based on visual logging of RC drill chips, handheld portable XRF results and magnetic susceptibility measurements, samples from the bottom 56m of the hole were sent for priority analysis by fire assay at Bureau Veritas in Kalgoorlie.
The results from these initial samples confirm the relationship between the gold mineralisation and sulphides, and a relationship between the best gold mineralisation and coincident magnetic anomalism and elevated Arsenic as measured by handheld portable XRF. The first results also confirm that the IP anomaly is associated with potentially significant gold mineralisation, whilst the significant deviation of GJRC029 away from the planned target increases the potential strike length of gold mineralisation on Miramar’s ground.
Significant results are listed in Table 1, with assay results from the remainder of the hole expected in coming weeks.
The initial RC drilling programme, which also tested two other IP targets, is nearing completion and results will be reported once received and compiled.
Once all assays are received, the Company will plan further RC and/or diamond drill holes including to test the dip and strike extent of the mineralisation intersected in GJRC029.
The Company advises that the WA Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) has extended the main Gidji JV tenement, E26/214, for a further five years, and will now expire in March 2030.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Miramar Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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18h
Rob McEwen: Gold to Go "Much Higher," Mining Stock Mania Not Here Yet
Rob McEwen, chairman and chief owner of McEwen Inc. (TSX:MUX,NYSE:MUX), outlines his gold price outlook as well as future plans for his company.
"If I look at history and the cycles gold has gone through, we have all the ingredients needed to drive it much higher," he told the Investing News Network.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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21h
Pacgold
Investor Insight
Pacgold is one of Australia’s most compelling gold exploration opportunities, backed by a strong technical team, offering investors exposure to a large-scale, underexplored gold system with significant resource growth potential.
Overview
Pacgold (ASX:PGO) is an Australian gold exploration company focused on the systematic advancement of the Alice River gold project in Northern Queensland. The company is led by a technically driven and highly experienced team of geologists and mining professionals, with demonstrated success in exploration, resource development and capital markets.
Pacgold team on site at Alice River gold project
With a dominant land position in the region, Pacgold holds 377 sq km of exploration permits and eight mining leases across the prospective Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ). This structure is interpreted as part of a large-scale intrusion-related gold system, with characteristics analogous to major global deposits such as Fort Knox (USA) and Hemi (Western Australia).
The company has validated its model through drilling success at the Central Zone, culminating in a maiden mineral resource of 474,000 oz of gold. This comprises both open pit and underground components, with resource grades averaging 1.2 grams per ton (g/t) gold, and zones open in all directions. Less than five percent of the strike length has been tested, and much of the prospective corridor is obscured by thin sand cover, highlighting strong potential for blind discoveries.
With extensive infrastructure already in place, including an airstrip, accommodation camp and road access within 100 km, Pacgold is positioned to rapidly scale exploration and accelerate resource growth. The 2025 campaign, which includes more than 10,000 metres of RC drilling and new IP surveys, aims to unlock the full regional potential of the ARFZ.
Company Highlights
- District-scale Discovery Potential: Pacgold controls more than 377 sq km of tenure and more than 30 km of strike length across the Alice River Fault Zone (ARFZ), a fertile, underexplored structural corridor in Northern Queensland.
- Maiden Resource: In May 2025, the company published a 474,000 oz gold mineral resource estimate (MRE), covering just five percent of the total strike, confirming high-grade mineralization and strong potential for expansion.
- Aggressive Exploration Strategy: More than 10,000 metres of RC drilling campaign is underway, complemented by air-core and diamond programs, aimed at growing the Central Zone resource and testing multiple regional targets.
- Attractive Valuation Entry: With a market capitalization of just ~AU$10 million and an EV of AU$8.5 million (as of Q1 2025), Pacgold provides a low-cost entry into a potentially Tier 1 gold system.
- Experienced Leadership: The board includes proven mine developers and discovery geologists with prior success at Chalice, AngloGold Ashanti, BHP and Sibanye-Stillwater.
Key Project
Alice River Gold Project
The Alice River gold project is a large-scale, greenstone-hosted gold system centred on the regional ARFZ, located in Northern Queensland. The project area comprises 377 sq km of contiguous tenure, including eight granted mining leases. Pacgold controls over 30 km of strike length along the ARFZ, a major crustal-scale structure that has only recently been systematically explored with modern techniques.
The deposit style is interpreted as an intrusion-related gold system, a highly attractive deposit type known for hosting long-life, large-tonnage gold mines. Examples include the Fort Knox gold mine in Alaska and the Hemi gold project in Western Australia. The Alice River system features sheeted quartz-sulfide veining, extensive sericite-altered zones, and strong IP chargeability responses coincident with surface gold anomalism.
Pacgold’s 2024 and 2025 drilling campaigns have focused on the Central Zone, which yielded the maiden MRE totaling 474,000 oz gold across both open pit and underground resources. The pit-constrained resource includes 10.6 Mt at 1.2 g/t gold (404,000 oz), with a further 1.5 Mt at 1.4 g/t gold (71,000 oz) defined for underground potential. High-grade zones remain open at depth and laterally, with drill spacing still relatively broad (~80 x 80 metres), leaving significant scope for resource expansion.
Beyond the Central Zone, the company has delineated multiple high-priority regional targets along the ARFZ. These include:
- White Lion: A compelling target with surface gold anomalism and a coincident IP chargeability anomaly. A gradient and dipole-dipole IP survey is being extended in Q2 2025, with drilling expected in Q4.
- Victoria and The Shadows: Emerging prospects to the south with limited historical drilling but strong geophysical responses.
- Posie and Southern Target Area: Additional areas along the southern ARFZ strike that exhibit strong structural preparation, geochemical responses and potential for concealed mineralization.
Drilling recommenced in April 2025, with RC drilling underway and air-core and diamond drilling scheduled through Q3 2025. The program aims to increase drill density in resource zones and test underexplored regional anomalies. Pacgold expects up to 15,000 metres of total drilling during the 2025 campaign, coupled with ongoing geophysical targeting, including IP and drone magnetics.
The project is fully permitted, with strong access and logistics, and is located in a low-risk jurisdiction with significant precedent for gold development. With limited historical exploration and clear mineralizing controls now defined, Alice River represents a transformative opportunity to uncover a Tier 1 discovery in an overlooked Australian belt.
Management Team
Matthew Boyes – Managing Director and CEO
Matthew Boyes is a geologist with over 28 years of international experience across mine geology, exploration, corporate leadership and capital markets. He has managed exploration teams and development projects across Western Australia, the Americas and Europe. His technical oversight and commercial strategy guide Pacgold’s resource growth and investor engagement.
Caoilin Chestnutt – Non-executive Chair
A former head of business development at BHP and currently head of technical services at Thiess, Caoilin Chestnutt brings nearly 30 years of experience in global exploration strategy, M&A and deal structuring across multiple commodities. She is also deputy chair of Critical Minerals at the Queensland Exploration Council.
Michael Pitt – Non-executive Director
Michael Pitt is the co-founder of New Century Resources (ASX:NCZ), and former VP of business development at Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE:SSW). He currently leads development at Broken Hill Mines. His expertise in mine redevelopment and business strategy supports Pacgold’s long-term operational execution.
Richard Hacker – Non-executive Director
Former CFO and GM commercial at Chalice Mining (ASX:CHN), Richard Hacker played a key role in the Julimar discovery. He has held leadership roles at Liontown Resources and DevEx. Hacker contributes deep experience in financial oversight and strategic planning for discovery-stage companies.
Bruce Kendall – Non-executive Director
Bruce Kendall is an award-winning exploration geologist with over 30 years in exploration management at AngloGold Ashanti, Chalice Mining, Jabiru Metals and IGO. He was a key contributor to the Tropicana, Julimar and Coyote discoveries, and brings essential geological insight to Pacgold’s targeting and evaluation.
Geoff Lowe – Exploration Manager
As a Competent Person and seasoned exploration geologist, Geoff Lowe is responsible for executing Pacgold’s field campaigns. He has played a central role in resource modeling, target generation and drill program design for the Alice River project.
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23h
WGC: Gold Keeps Climbing, Future Hinges on Economic and Geopolitical Crossroads
Gold has notched an extraordinary first half of 2025, climbing 26 percent in US dollar terms and setting 26 new all-time highs — but the rally now faces a murky and fragile second act shaped by inflation, monetary policy, and unresolved global tensions, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) recent mid-year report.
Investors around the globe turned to gold as both a tactical hedge and a strategic store of value, pushing trading volumes to an all-time high of US$329 billion per day in the first six months of the year.
The WGC’s mid-year outlook suggests the precious metal’s momentum could continue, but with significant caveats. Under current consensus forecasts, gold is likely to remain rangebound in the second half, potentially rising another 0 to 5 percent.
However, sharp deviations in macro conditions — particularly those involving stagflation, recession, or worsening geopolitical risks — could lift gold by an additional 10 percent to 15 percent before year-end.
A record-breaking first half
Gold’s 26 percent gain in H1 made it one of 2025’s top-performing major assets. The yellow metal benefited from a rare combination of global factors: a declining US dollar — which had its worst start to a year since 1973 — muted Treasury yields, and a sharp uptick in geopolitical tensions, many linked to US trade policies and regional flashpoints.
These factors created fertile ground for strong inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), over-the-counter (OTC) markets, and futures.
Gold ETF holdings surged by 397 metric tons in the first half — the highest since August 2022 — bringing total holdings to 3,616 tonnes and pushing total assets under management to $383 billion, a 41 percent increase from the start of the year.
Central banks, too, continued to buy gold, albeit at a moderated pace compared to the record-setting quarters of 2022 and 2023. Although net purchases have slowed, they remain significantly above the pre-2022 average of 500–600 metric tons annually.
Why investors piled in
According to the WGC’s Gold Return Attribution Model (GRAM), three key drivers contributed to gold’s H1 surge: risk and uncertainty, opportunity cost, and momentum.
Investor demand stemming from heightened geopolitical and financial risks contributed approximately 4 percent of gold’s return, with half of that explained by a measurable increase in the Geopolitical Risk Index.
A further 7 percent of the return was attributed to changes in opportunity cost, primarily due to the weakening dollar and low bond yields, which made non-interest-bearing gold relatively more attractive.
Lastly, momentum effects, including continued ETF inflows and trend-following investment behavior, added another 5 percent, supporting the metal’s climb through positive feedback loops.
Altogether, these macro and market-based dynamics explained around 16 percentage points of gold’s 26 percent performance in the first six months of the year.
The outlook: Three scenarios for H2
While gold’s fundamentals remain supportive, analysts are cautious about expecting a repeat performance in H2. The WGC outlines three macroeconomic paths that could shape gold’s direction in the second half.
In the base case, moderate global growth and inflation settling near 5 percent could keep real yields subdued, especially if the US Federal Reserve cuts rates by 50 basis points in the fourth quarter.
This environment would likely support gold prices modestly, with forecasts pointing to gains of up to 5 percent. Continued interest from ETF and OTC investors could offset softer consumer demand and increased recycling, both of which may act as speed bumps for further upside.
The bull case envisions a sharp rise in gold if economic conditions worsen — either through stagflation or a full-blown recession.
A flight to safety could trigger renewed ETF inflows, central bank diversification away from the dollar, and heavier positioning in COMEX futures. Under this stress-driven rally, gold could surge another 10 to 15 percent in H2, echoing the strong performance seen during previous crises like 2008 and the early pandemic years.
On the flip side, a more stable geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, such as a resolution to major global conflicts or normalization in trade, would dampen demand for gold. In this bear case, stronger yields and renewed investor appetite for risk assets could pull gold down by as much as 12 to 17 percent.
No matter the outcome, gold continues to serve as a resilient portfolio hedge. Its strong showing in the first half of 2025 reaffirmed its utility in volatile markets, particularly as traditional safe havens like US Treasuries struggle to deliver.
Even if jewelry and retail demand sees pressure, structural support could come from institutional players — including reports that Chinese insurers are quietly upping their gold allocations.
For now, gold may consolidate. But should conditions turn, the metal still has plenty of room to move, in either direction.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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