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Siren Gold Limited (ASX: SNG) (Siren or the Company) is pleased to provide an exploration update following assay results from its first drillhole at the Auld Creek Prospect.
Highlights
- Siren’s first drillhole ACDDH004 at the Auld Creek prospect intersected both the Fraternal and Bonanza Shoots.
- The Fraternal Shoot intersected 20.8m at 5.9g/t Au, 2.6% Sb for 12.0g/t AuEq from 116.2m,including 4.6m @ 10.7g/t Au, 3.9% Sb for 19.9g/t AuEq.
- The Bonanza Shoot intersected 3.5m @ 4.3g/t Au from 53.3m.
- Results confirm historic drillholes that include;
- 35m @ 4.1g/t Au, 2.9% Sb or 35m @ 11.0g/t AuEq,
- 6m @ 4.1g/t Au, 4.1%Sb or 6m @13.8g/t AuEq, and
- 7m @ 3.0g/t Au, 3.2% Sb or 7m @ 10.6g/t AuEq.
- Assay results for the second hole ACDDH005 are still pending.
- The thickness and consistency of the first hole at Auld Creek is very encouraging and consistent with recent trench results and historical drillholes.
Executive Chairman Brian Rodan commented:
“As previously reported, Siren was particularly excited about the type of mineralisation evident in the first drillhole at Auld Creek. We are very pleased to report that the assays confirm the presence of consistent high-grade gold and antimony mineralisation across the entire Fraternal intercept. AXDDH005 also intersected a broad zone of mineralisation, with assays pending. Drilling is continuing, with updated results to be provided to the market over the coming weeks”.
Figure 1. Stibnite (black) cemented host rock breccia from ACDDH004 at 131.4 to 131.8m that assayed 6.7g/t Au, 20.9% Sb for 56.0g/t AuEq.
Background
The Auld Creek Prospect is contained within Siren’s Golden Point exploration permit and is situated between the highly productive Globe Progress mine, which historically produced 418koz @ 12.2g/t Au, and the Crushington group of mines that produced 515koz @ 16.3g/t Au. More recently OceanaGold (OGL) mined an open pit and extracted an additional 600koz of gold from lower grade remnant mineralisation around the historic Globe Progress mine. Collectively these mines produced 1.6Moz at 10g/t Au.
The Auld Creek Prospect represents high-grade gold-antimony (Sb) mineralisation that was potentially offset to the west, along NE-SE trending faults between Globe Progress and Crushington. Siren has recently acquired the Cumberland exploration permit that was part of the Globe Progress mining permit. Siren now holds the ground immediately to the north (Auld Creek) and south of the Globe Progress mine.
The gold-antimony mineralisation extends from Auld Creek south through Globe Progress and the Cumberland prospects and on to Big River, a strike length of 12kms with 9kms in Siren’s permits and the remaining 3kms in the Globe Progress reserve area.
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Siren Gold
Overview
Siren Gold (ASX:SNG) is an exploration and development company focusing on gold assets at its 1,100-square-kilometer tenement package located on the historic, high-grade Reefton, Lyell and Sams Creek goldfields in New Zealand.
Reefton Goldfield was first discovered in 1866 with total current recorded production of 11 million ounces (Moz) of gold, consisting of 2 Moz @ 16 grams per ton (g/t) gold from underground, 0.7 Moz from open pit and ~8 Moz gold from alluvial mining.
Mining and the local communities thrived in the region during the early 1900s, but most of the 94 underground mines closed by 1942 during WWII, and the Blackwater mine, which produced 740 koz @ 19 g/t down to more than 700 meters below the surface, finally shut down in 1951 bringing the entire field to a close. The gold price in 1951 was US$35 per ounce.
Fast forward to 2023, mining analysts believe current gold prices are only the beginning of a large upward trend, with gold prices reaching the $2,000 mark in the last quarter of 2023. What we know is clear: Gold has outperformed the S&P 500 over the past 20 years, as production from gold mines runs low without enough new projects to replace them.
Siren’s gold projects present an opportunity for new supply sources to emerge. The Reefton Goldfield is a high-grade mining district located on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Siren’s global mineral resource currently sits at 1.33 million ounces at 3.3 grams per ton (g/t) AuEq (gold equivalent), from Sams Creek, Alexander River, Big River, Supreme and Auld Creek.
The district is widely known for producing gold, antimony and coal. A crucial aspect of the Reefton Goldfield is the significant occurrence of antimony, a rare thermal-resistant metal and a poor conductor of electricity. These attributes make it ideal for flame retardants, paints and various industrial applications to improve thermal tolerance. Additionally, antimony is a critical element in lithium-ion batteries and next-generation liquid metal batteries utilized for energy storage systems. The presence of antimony in the goldfield creates additional value for Siren’s projects as exploration continues.
Siren currently has seven projects, many of which were active sites that were closed during WWII despite encouraging exploration or production. Now, the company has built an expansive portfolio of projects and will undergo systematic exploration of its assets using leading-edge technologies and techniques.
With seven projects under its belt, Siren is primarily focused on Sams Creek, Alexander River, Big River and Auld Creek. These four projects are slated for future exploration and potential development to improve the assets’ value.
A skilled management team leads the company towards fully exploring its promising portfolio, with diverse expertise in geology, corporate administration and finance.
Company Highlights
- Siren Gold is an exploration and development company focusing on gold assets in the high-grade, historic Reefton Goldfield and Sams Creek in New Zealand.
- Siren owns seven highly prospective projects throughout the region, each with the potential for gold and antimony, a rare metal used in various thermal-resistant applications.
- The company’s global mineral resource is currently at 1.33 million ounces at 3.3 g/t AuEq (gold equivalent), with significant potential to increase as exploration continues.
- The Reefton Goldfield historically produced over 11 million ounces of gold before the entire field closed after WWII.
- Siren’s assets within the Reefton Goldfield are highly prospective but have yet to be fully explored through modern exploration techniques, creating significant blue-sky potential.
- A management team with a range of expertise in the natural resources industry leads the company towards fully realizing the potential of its highly prospective portfolio.
Key Projects
Sams Creek Gold Project
The Sams Creek Gold Project is located 140 kilometers northeast of Reefton and 100 kilometers northeast of Lyell.
The Sams Creek porphyry dyke-style gold deposit is equivalent in geology deposits to the Australian Eastern Lachlan fold belt that contains very large porphyry copper-gold and porphyry gold-style deposits like at Cadia and Ridgeway in New South Wales.
Siren believes there is significant potential at Sams Creek for a very large underground mining operation as the orebody is over 60 meters thick, has a vertical extent of 1 kilometer and has been traced for more than 7 kilometers along strike.
To date, around 127 diamond holes have been drilled at Sams Creek and the blue-sky project already contains an impressive resource estimate, with much of the asset remaining unexplored.
Project Highlights:
- Prolific Resource Estimate: The asset’s newly updated JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate (MRE) describes 8.9 million tonnes at 2.82 g/t gold for 808 koz of contained gold. However, there is still tremendous potential for expansion as work continues.
- The main mineralization at Sams Creek is open at depth and will be further drill-tested as the deposit is open in all directions and has significant potential for increased gold resources from additional exploration drilling.
- Siren has an access agreement with the Department of Conservation that allows up to 100 drill sites within EP40338.
- Additional drilling will also be focused on infilling any new mineralized zones discovered, so an updated MRE can be completed, feasibility studies can be commenced, and a mining permit application can be advanced in 2024
Alexander River Gold Project
The Alexander River project covers 16.75 square kilometers and is 100 percent owned by Siren Gold. The asset is located 15 kilometers away from the prolific Blackwater Mine, a vital sign of what’s possible at Alexander River.
Project Highlights:
- Encouraging Resource Estimate: The project’s inferred mineral resource estimate is currently 1.07 million tonnes at 5 g/t gold for 170 koz at a 1.5 g/t cut-off. Encouragingly, this is a substantial increase of 30 percent and a grade increase of 22 percent from previous estimates.
- Past-producing Project: Operations at the project closed in 1942; before shuttering, they had historical production of 41 koz at 24.6 g/t gold at a cut-off grade of 15 g/t gold. Now, Siren is using modern techniques to explore and develop the project further.
- Exploration Targets: Currently, the company focuses on a 1.2-kilometer-long outcropping quartz reef with mineralization defined by surface trenching over 800 meters long and 4 meters wide at 8g/t gold. The width of the outcropping is well-suited for efficient mechanized mining.
Big River Gold Project
The Big River project covers 44.87 square kilometers and is considered a highly prospective exploration target of 100 to 125 koz at 7 to 9 g/t gold. The company will continue exploring to determine the asset's depth and gold grade.
Project Highlights:
- 4-kilometer Anomalous Strike Length: The Big River project contains a significant 4-kilometer strike length. Sampling along this strike hosts massive stibnite veins with high-grade gold deposits, with results up to 82 g/t gold.
- Encouraging Drill Results: Completed drill campaigns have produced high-grade near-surface assays, with the best drill holes including:
- 6.6 meters at 21.4 g/t gold
- 3 meters at 18.5 g/t gold
- 6 meters at 5.1 g/t gold
- 5.2 meters at 6.3 g/t gold
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate: Siren recently announced the asset’s Maiden JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate with a total indicated and inferred estimate of 11 million tonnes at 3.11 g/t with a cut-off of 1.5 g/t.
Auld Creek
The Auld Creek project contains an epizonal mineralization that extends over 2 kilometers and contains high-grade gold and massive stibnite veins. Nearby mines have produced over 400 koz of high-grade gold, which indicates what’s possible at the company’s asset.
Five diamond holes have been completed at Auld Creek with all five holes intersecting significant mineralisation in the Bonanza East Shoot.
The company provided a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Auld Creek Prospect which includes 132 koz @ 7.1 g/t gold equivalent (AuEq) containing @ 3.5 g/t gold and 8,700 tons of antimony @ 1.5 percent antimony. The MRE includes the following significant intersections;
- 35 meters @ 4.1 g/t gold, 2.9 percent antimony or 35 meters @ 11 g/t AuEq
- 6 meters @ 4.1 g/t gold, 4.1 percent antimony or 6 meters @ 13.8 g/t AuEq
- 34 meters @ 1.6 g/t gold, 0.7 percent antimony or 34 meters @ 3.3 g/t AuEq
- 20.7 meters @ 5.9 g/t gold, 2.6 percent antimony or 20.7 meters @ 12 g/t AuEq
With a global MRE of above 1.3 Moz, Siren is on track to achieve its vision of being a multiple-million-ounce, high-grade gold and antimony producer.
Additional Projects
Siren owns additional gold assets that are being systematically explored to increase shareholder value further.
Project Highlights:
- Lyell Goldfield: The 100-percent owned project spans 54.25 square kilometers north of the Alpine United Mine. The project has historical production of 91 koz at 1.84 g/t gold with a cut-off grade of 15 g/t gold. Early trenching indicates grades up to 13.8 g/t gold.
- Cumberland: The company’s Cumberland tenement package is in the center of a 35-kilometer-long structure corridor that hosts some of the most significant projects in the Reefton Goldfield. The project has historical production of 45 koz at 14.2 g/t.
- Reefton South: The Reefton South asset covers 333 square kilometers and is considered a 20-kilometer extension of the Reefton Goldfield. The underground nature of possible deposits hid them from past explorers but created significant potential for applying modern technologies.
Management Team
Brian Rodan – Non-executive Chairman
Brian Rodan is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with 45 years of experience. He is the managing director and owner of Australian Contract Mining, a mid-tier contracting company that successfully completed $1.5 billion worth of work over 20 years. ACM was sold to an ASX-listed gold mining company in 2017. Rodan is the founding director of Dacian Gold, which purchased the Mt Morgans Gold Mine from the administrator of Range River Gold. After listing on the ASX in 2012, Rodan became Dacian’s largest shareholder. He had a 15-year tenure with Australia’s largest full-service ASX-listed contract mining company with an annual turnover of more than $850 million.
Victor Rajasooriar - Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer
Victor Rajasooriar is a highly experienced Australian mining executive and board director who has more than 25 years of operational and technical experience across both underground and open pit mining operations. Rajasooriar’s distinguished career has seen him hold senior roles with major resource companies, including managing director and CEO of Echo Resources (ASX:EAR) until the completion of a takeover by Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST). Before joining Echo, Rajasooriar was chief operating officer for leading underground mining contractor Barminco and has held senior technical roles with Gold Fields and Newmont Mining. At Newmont, this included operational responsibility for the Waihi Gold Operation in the North Island of New Zealand between 2006 – 2008. He holds a bachelor of engineering (mining) from the WA School of Mines and is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Paul Angus - Executive Technical Director
Paul Angus is a New Zealand-based exploration geologist with more than 30 years of mining and geology experience in New Zealand. He graduated from Otago University and has held senior management roles with OceanaGold. While he was an exploration manager, Angus discovered more than 3 Moz at Macraes, Reefton and Sams Creek.
Keith Murray - Non-executive Director
Keith Murray is a chartered accountant with 40 years of experience at the general manager level in audit, accounting, tax, finance, treasury and corporate governance. During the 1990s, Murray was group accounting manager, corporate and taxation joint company secretary for Eltin Limited, a leading Australian-based international mining services company. Murray is currently general manager corporate and company secretary for the Heytesbury Group.
Sebastian Andre - Company Secretary
Sebastian Andre is a chartered secretary with over 10 years of experience in corporate advisory, governance and risk services. He has previously acted as an adviser at the ASX and has a thorough understanding of the ASX Listing Rules, specializing in providing advice to companies and their boards for capital raisings, IPOs, backdoor listings, corporate compliance and governance matters. Andre holds accounting, finance, and corporate governance qualifications and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia.
Pre-Feasibility Studies on Track as Flora and Fauna Studies Reveal No Threatened or Priority Species of Concern at the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina Deposit, WA
- Baseline environmental surveys indicate no Threatened or Priority species of flora and fauna are present on the Lake Hope salt pan.
- A few protected species are present around parts of the proposed site logistics but will have no material effect on mine planning.
- Together with previous Heritage Clearance by the Ngadju Aboriginal group, these surveys will support a Mining Lease application and guide environmental and Aboriginal Cultural Heritage management plans.
- Highly regarded Indigenous Services Australia (ISA), led by Tony Shaw and Carola Verschuren appointed to establish a long-term relationship with the Ngadju group upon whose lands the project is located, and with a view to establishing an access agreement and cultural heritage management plan.
- David English appointed to lead the Pre-Feasibility Study at Lake Hope. David helped lead the feasibility studies and development of both Sandfire Resources’ De Grussa Project and Sirius Resources’ Nova-Bollinger Project, both known for record times from discovery to production.
- Metallurgical test work is continuing.
- The Pre-Feasibility Study is scheduled for completion in Q4 2024.
- Drill results from other lakes in the area have been received and are being interpreted.
Impact’s Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said, “The results of the flora and fauna baseline surveys further confirm that the environmental impact of our proposed development of the Lake Hope alumina deposit will be exceptionally small. Given that mining will only leave a hole about one to two metres deep in the lake, the environmental risk and any post-mine rehabilitation are considered to be minimal at this stage.
We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Indigenous Services Australia to help with our discussions and negotiations with the Ngadju Aboriginal group upon whose lands the Lake Hope project is located. ISA played a pivotal role in negotiating a mining agreement between the Ngadju people and Sirius Resources (now IGO) for the Nova-Bollinger mine near Norseman.
In addition, we have appointed a well-respected and very experienced Feasibility Study manager for Lake Hope, Mr David English. David helped lead the teams that developed both the De Grussa copper mine (Sandfire Resources) and the Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper mine and he was instrumental in getting both projects to production in near-record times. David has already added significantly to the team and our forward plans, and we are on schedule to complete the PFS by the end of the year.
David’s appointment has allowed Roland Gotthard, who discovered Lake Hope and developed the metallurgical processes to produce HPA from lake mud, to focus on the metallurgical test work and accelerate end-product development. We look forward to announcing the results of that on-going work”.
Figure 1. Location of the Lake Hope Project (northernmost red star). Lake Hope is one of five exploration licences owned by Playa One Pty Limited, in which Impact has the right to earn an 80% interest (ASX Release March 21st 2023)
Baseline flora and fauna studies have not identified any Threatened or Priority species in and around the salt lakes that host the alumina-bearing mud at Impact Minerals Limited’s Lake Hope project, located 500 km east of Perth in Western Australia (Figure 1). Together with the already-received Heritage Clearance from the Ngadju Aboriginal people, this is a further significant milestone on Impact’s journey to producing High-Purity Alumina (HPA) from the aluminous mud at Lake Hope.
The surveys, which were undertaken by Biota Environmental Sciences, were completed in the spring season in late 2023 and were focused on E63/2086, which contains the Lake Hope alumina deposit. The studies covered the deposit, which lies in the top two metres of two salt pans and the surrounding areas, small areas of which will be required for site logistics, mainly haulage roads and stockpiles and temporary accommodation.
A few species that will require an environmental management plan are present in a few places close to some of the proposed site logistics but will not have a material effect on development. Further surveys will be completed in these areas and also along the route of the proposed haul road to the Norseman-Hyden road in due course.
Click here for the full ASX Release
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Analyst Report Cites Warriedar’s High-grade Gold Play, Copper Potential in Upside Valuation
“Applying a peer-based EV/resource multiple approach, we derive the valuation of AU$0.09 in a base case scenario and AU$0.11 per share in a bull case scenario,” analyst Behzad Golmohammadi wrote in the report.
Warriedar Resources is an advanced gold and copper exploration company with an existing resource base of about 2 million ounces of gold between its projects in Western Australia (Golden Range and Fields Find) and Nevada, USA (Big Springs). The analyst report cites Warriedar’s successful exploration to date of Golden Range and Fields Find with highly encouraging results suggesting a potential for high-grade gold discoveries and a porphyry system hosting polymetallic mineralisation, including gold, copper, molybdenum and silver.
“Successful resource expansion from the upcoming aggressive drilling campaigns, enhanced by
positive metallurgy and new discovery potential could drive a substantial rerating, in our view,” Golmohammadi wrote.
The report also cited the current positive gold outlook that is expected to drive gold prices higher, adding to the upside potential of Warriedar Resources.
Report highlights include:
- Warriedar Resources holds a largely underexplored portfolio of high-grade gold assets, with significant base metals discovery potential, in tier 1 jurisdictions surrounded by existing gold deposits and producing mines.
- The company’s diverse exploration programmes in 2023 yielded encouraging results, highlighting the substantial inherent potential in Warriedar’s key projects.
- A positive gold outlook expected to drive gold prices higher
- Using a sum-of-the-parts-driven asset base comparable valuation methodology and a conservative resource estimates assumptions, East Coast Research’s valuation of Warriedar is at AU$0.09 per share in the base-case scenario and AU$0.11 per share in the bull-case scenario, representing a price/NAV of 0.41x, which offers ~150 percent upside probability for potential investors.
For the full analyst report, click here.
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