Overview
Gold is a long-time favorite store-of-value asset to hedge against global turmoil. Investors have several ways to invest in the precious metal, whether buying bullion, investing in gold ETFs, or buying stock in mining companies. While there are gold deposits worldwide, Australia and Canada remain strong producers of the metal, ranking as the world’s second and fifth-largest gold producers, respectively.
Labyrinth Resources (ASX:LRL) is a junior mining company with underexplored gold assets in tier 1 jurisdictions of Quebec and Western Australia, including the Labyrinth Gold project located in the heart of the Abitibi Gold Belt. The asset has not received significant exploration or development attention for more than 15 years, creating tremendous upside potential.
Labyrinth Resources is exploring its Comet Vale property in Western Australia, which has historically produced over 180,000 ounces (oz) of gold with mining only going to a 250-meter depth. Multiple gold mineralized trends are present across the tenure as well as significant nickel and copper anomalies that have not been followed up. Recent work done by Ardea Resources (ASX:
ARL) shows the project is prospective for significant Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites. The Walter Williams formation hosts Ardea’s KNP containing 854Mt at 0.71 percent nickel (Ni) and 0.045 percent copper (Co). High-grade Ni laterite intersections with proximal high Cu rock chips suggest there is nickel sulphide potential on the Comet Vale property.
The Labyrinth Gold project has an inferred mineral resource of 3 million tons (Mt) @ 5 g/t for 500,000 oz (at 3 g/t.m cut-off) with a notable high-grade component of 150,000 oz @ 10 g/t (above 6 g/t cut-off) and high grades of up to 62.5 g/t and widths up to 16 meters received across five individual lodes from maiden drilling. In 2022, Labyrinth announced outstanding metallurgical results from its comprehensive test work which demonstrate a clear, efficient processing pathway for its 500,000 oz Labyrinth Gold project. The company achieved an outstanding recovery through the gravity/flotation flowsheet, returning a low mass pull, high value 96 g/t gold concentrate at 97.3 percent recovery.
Labyrinth also completed a surface diamond drilling campaign at the Denain gold prospect, with a total of 4,018 meters drilled from 22 holes. The company has received all assays which confirmed the presence of two high-grade gold veins with associated copper that remain open in all directions. In December 2022, Labyrinth commenced an extensive exploration campaign at its Comet Vale Gold-Copper-Nickel project in Western Australia. The program is the first genuine surface exploration undertaken at Comet Vale in 15 years.
The company is well-positioned to acquire 100 percent ownership of the Labyrinth Gold Project from G.E.T.T Gold (TSXV:GETT). The final installment of the revised agreement is due for payment on September 29, 2023.
The company has an experienced, lean management team with a record of success in the natural resources industry. The team comprises mine engineering, geology, corporate administration, and international law experts, building confidence in Labyrinth’s ability to capitalize on its promising assets. In a current global environment desperate for genuine underground operational expertise, the Labyrinth team possesses the required skill set to leverage into value-accretive operating mine opportunities.
Company Highlights
- Labyrinth Resources is a junior mining company with an underexplored gold asset on the Abitibi Gold Belt in Quebec and a highly prospective multi-commodity project in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia.
- Quebec is a globally recognized tier 1 mining jurisdiction with strong government and community support.
- The project’s current inferred mineral resource of 3 million tons (Mt) @ 5 grams per ton (g/t) for 500,000 ounces (oz) (at 3 g/t.meters cut-off) with a notable high-grade component of 150,000 oz @ 10 g/t (above 6 g/t cut-off) and high grades of up to 62.5 g/t and widths up to 16 meters received across five individual lodes
- The company’s project is surrounded by prolific mining companies with multi-million-ounce gold deposits, with testing of the Labyrinth deposit barely scratching the surface in comparison to the deep nature of many Abitibi gold operations.
- Comet Vale lies within the prospective Menzies mining area, well-located on the Goldfields highway 100km north of Kalgoorlie.
- There is significant high-grade, multi-lode gold production across the tenement package and under-explored multi-commodity potential
- A combined open pit and underground Indicated and Inferred Minerals Resource of 619,000t at 4.8g/t for 95,710oz
- The Comet Vale UG resource is estimated to be 56,233oz at 7g/t (2.5g/t cut-off) and the open pit resource as 39,477oz at 3.3g/t (0.5g/t cut-off)
- The mineralised shear is open at depth and north and south of the the 5km
- Multiple lodes on the tenement package in historic workings have not been explored below 50-100m
- A management team with a proven track record of success in the natural resources industry adds value to the company. It creates confidence in its ability to fully capitalize on its projects.
Key Projects
Comet Vale Project
The company’s Comet Vale project is located 100 kilometers north of Kalgoorlie. It hosts extensive high-grade gold with existing underground development and infrastructure. The project is surrounded by historic high-grade gold mines with past production from the Sand Queen and Sand George mines totaling 181,000 oz @ 23 g/t with multiple other high-grade satellite deposits.
Drilling at the Comet Vale commenced in March 2023 with an initial 20 holes covering 1,500 meters. The program was designed to test extensions to known mineralization of the high-grade Sovereign Trend. High-grade assays were received and significant results from this program include:
- 5 meters @ 15 g/t gold from 46 meters including 2 meters @ 35.6 g/t from 49 meters in hole CVRC23_008
- 3 meters @ 11.41 g/t gold from 46 meters in hole CVRC23_007
- 2 meters @ 15.53 g/t gold from 126 meters including 1m @ 25.56 g/t from 127 meters in hole CVRC23_016
The Sovereign Trend has an updated high-grade JORC 2012 mineral resource estimate that laid the foundation for further growth:
- Combined open pit and underground indicated and inferred mineral resource of 619,000 tons @ 4.8 g/t gold for 95,710 oz
- Underground resource of 56,233 oz @ 7 g/t (2.5 g/t cut-off)
- Open pit resource of 39,477 oz @ 3.3 g/t (0.5 g/t cut-off)
- Notable high-grade indicated mineral resource component of 42,000 oz @ 10 g/t gold (above 5 g/t gold cut-off)
Compilation of historic results and mapping is in progress, which expands upon the Sovereign Trend and has validated the extensive gold prospectivity still existing below 50m depth across the tenement package.
The Labyrinth Gold Project
The company’s flagship project sits on the Abitibi Gold Belt and has neighbors with multi-million-ounce gold deposits. However, the asset has not received significant exploration attention for the past 15 years. Only one 400-meter hole was drilled in that timeframe, leaving much of the asset untouched by modern exploration technologies. Fortunately, the asset contains a pre-existing and accessible underground mine, significantly reducing upfront development costs.
Project Highlights:
- Multimillion-ounce Potential: Recent exploration campaigns have identified targets for follow-up drilling that indicate targets with ideal historical intersections of multiple lodes. The company has completed maiden underground and surface exploration campaigns in 2022 to facilitate delivery of the maiden JORC estimate and demonstrate high-grade mineralization continuity at increasing depth.
- Updated Resource Estimate: JORC 2012 compliant inferred mineral resource of 3 Mt @ 5 g/t for 500,000 oz (at 3 g/t.m cut-off) with a notable high-grade component of 150,000 oz @ 10 g/t (above 6 g/t cut-off)
- Strong Existing Infrastructure: The project contains an underground mine, reinstated heating, operational surface buildings and ground support.
Management Team
Jennifer Neild - Chief Executive Officer
Jennifer Neild is a resources executive with more than 18 years of experience in exploration across a broad range of commodities in various jurisdictions. She was most recently chief executive officer of Peak Minerals (ASX:PUA). Neild holds a degree in Geology (Hons) from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, and a Master's in Geophysics from Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. She has held senior positions in exploration, resource geology and production geology in both Australia and Canada with Newmont Australia and Falconbridge. She was the general manager of interpretation for expert geophysics group HiSeis. With her geological and geophysics expertise in both Western Australia and Canada and her corporate and executive experience in the resources industry, Neild is ideally placed to drive the next round of exploration at the company’s Labyrinth and Comet Vale projects. She is also a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Dean Hely - Non-executive Chairman
Dean Hely is the managing partner of West Australian legal firm Lavan, with more than 29 years of experience working in corporate reconstruction, insolvency and commercial litigation. Hely currently serves as a board member of the not-for-profit organizations Rugby WA, the Australian Institute of Management WA and Youth Focus.
Simon Lawson - Technical Director
Simon Lawson is a professional geoscientist with more than 15 years of experience spanning multiple commodities and jurisdictions and was a founding team member of Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST). Currently, Lawson is the managing director of ASX-listed Spartan Resources Ltd (ASX:SPR) (formerly Gascoyne Resources (ASX:GCY)), a West Australian gold-focused mining company, and has personally visited and reviewed the acquired Canadian gold properties.
Matt Nixon - Non-executive Director
Matt Nixon is a qualified mining engineer with more than 13 years of experience in successful underground and open-pit operations working for both mining contractor and mine owner companies across gold and other commodities. Most recently, Nixon worked as the mining manager at Northern Star Resources (ASX:
NST) flagship Jundee Operations. He has also held operational and senior positions with St Barbara and Redpath Australia. Nixon holds a Bachelor of Mining Engineering with honors from the University of NSW and a WA first class mine manager’s certificate and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
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Figure 1 – Project Location Map