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Ora Gold Limited (“Ora” or the “Company”, ASX: OAU) is pleased to announce another high-grade gold intercept from diamond core at Crown Prince (M51/886).
Highlights:
- Further high-grade gold results returned from OGGDD537 which was drilled at the South-Eastern Ore Body (SEB) of Crown Prince Gold Prospect
- The intercept includes:
- 6.4m @ 26.39 g/t Au from 127.4m incl. 2.8m @ 58.53g/t Au from 131.7m
- This intercept was returned from the hinge zone of the newly delineated SEB anticline, below a zone of exceptional gold grades seen in recent RC Holes (ASX announcement, 28 June 2023)
- The intersection supports the Company’s interpretation for SEB mineralisation where high-grade gold mineralization remains open at depth with the best grades and thicknesses occurring in the hinge zone of a SSW plunging anticline
- This intercept is located 53m along strike to the north-east from the high-grade intersection reported in OGGDD536 (ASX Announcement 4 July 2023)
- The lode consists of quartz-carbonate-chlorite-sericite with sporadic veinlets of pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite and traces of galena
- Additional RC drilling between 50m and 200m vertical depth and diamond drilling to 300m vertical depth will be undertaken shortly at SEB. This will further underpin a resource estimate for the new zone of mineralisation (i.e. SEB) at Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince south-east extension (SEB) zone continues to develop as a key growth area for gold resources at the prospect.
The Crown Prince Prospect is a high-grade gold deposit within Ora Gold’s Garden Gully Project. Crown Prince is located 22km north-west of Meekatharra in Western Australia via the Great Northern Highway and the Mt Clere Road (Figure 1).
Ora Gold’s CEO Alex Passmore commented: “We are very pleased to report more high-grade results from our diamond drill program at Crown Prince. Results from OGGDD537 were eagerly awaited given the strong alteration seen in drill core as described in recent announcements. This result confirms down dip continuity of mineralisation in this area, supports our interpretation of the SEB structure, and is a substantial strike extension from the high-grade intercept in OGGDD536 that we announced recently”.
Figure 1. Garden Gully tenements and location of OAU’s gold prospects
Assay results from the second diamond hole drilled at SEB have returned additional high grade gold results (Table 1, Appendix 1, Figures 2-3 & Photo 1). Samples from the remaining holes have been delivered to Intertek in Perth and assays are pending.
The results in this release indicate the presence of a down dip extension of high-grade gold mineralisation at SEB and support the structural interpretation for mineralised shoots at Crown Prince (Figure 2). Mineralised envelopes are contorted and folded between northerly trending shears. MOB mineralization occurs in a steep south-east plunging anticline. SEB mineralization is hosted within a steep south westerly plunging anticline. The two zones are separated by a northerly trending shear zone (Figure 2).
All hole details and sampling information are included in Table 1. Assay results received to date with more than 0.1ppm Au are included in Appendix 1.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Ora Gold 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.
OPINION — Goldenomics 103: Gold Protects and Performs
By Darren Brady Nelson
US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs certainly caused quite the stir in the markets on April 2.
Gold dropped about 6 percent, and silver 12 percent. A week later, a pause was announced, which ended on August 1. Gold and silver have since risen approximately 11 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
Six month gold and silver price performance.
Source: Trading Economics (gold) and (silver).
Unless you are a professional, or even amateur, trader, it is best to look at gold and silver investment with a perspective of years or decades, rather than just days, weeks or even months. Since the start of the COVID-19 panic in March 2020, gold and silver have exploded 123 percent and 192 percent.
10 year gold and silver price performance.
Source: Trading Economics (gold) and (silver).
In the shorter term, the gold price is driven by what economist John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits.” In the longer term, it is driven by “monetary spirits.” And not just as protection, but also for performance. The Presidential Gold Guide highlights both in chapters four and five.
Source: Fisher Liberty Gold.
Gold unsurprisingly protects
Economist and investor Mark Skousen has wisely noted that: “Since we left the gold standard in 1971, both gold and silver have become superior inflation hedges.” Gold has more than countered the results of inflation, as measured by CPI, and the drivers of inflation, as measured by M3.
And the numbers back that up. The Gold Protects chart below compares the gold price, CPI and M3 in terms of cumulative growth of each from 1971 to 2025. That is throughout the whole era of gold as an investment, which officially started in 1974 once private ownership was restored.
During this era, gold grew by 541 percent, CPI by 214 percent and M3 by 384 percent. Annual average growth for gold was 10 percent, CPI at 4 percent and M3 at 7 percent. Maximums were 92 percent, 14 percent and 29 percent, respectively. CPI only failed to grow twice, ie. 0 percent in 2009 and 2015. M3 decreased twice, by -4 percent in 2023 and -6 percent in 2024.
Gold surprisingly performs
The highly respected In Gold We Trust (IGWT) report states: “When dealing with the specific level of gold allocation, it is advisable to differentiate between safe-haven gold and performance gold. The Big Long strategy emphasizes the potential of performance gold in the coming years.”
IGWT thus recommends an investment portfolio "rule of thumb" that includes 15 percent in “safe-haven gold” and 10 percent in “performance gold.” The Gold Performs chart below compares gold price, S&P 500 and nominal GDP in terms of cumulative growth of each from 1971 to 2025.
Gold grew by 541 percent, the S&P 500 by 484 percent and GDP by 339 percent. Annual average growth for gold was 10 percent, with the S&P 500 at 9 percent and GDP at 6 percent. Maximums were 92 percent, 45 percent and 14 percent, respectively. Gold did have a higher standard deviation of 27 percent, compared to 17 percent for the S&P 500 and 3 percent for GDP.
Animal and monetary spirits
Gold protects as a hedge or safe haven, not just from inflation, but from the flip side of that same coin of the boom-bust cycle. Both are driven, in the longer term, not by “animal spirits,” but by “monetary spirits.”
Inflation is when money inflation has a widespread impact as price inflation. A bubble is when money increases have a more concentrated impact such as in certain asset values. The bubble eventually bursts when “monetary spirits” are finally reined in by monetary realities.
I say “monetary spirits” because of the role of fiat money, as indicated by, say, M3. When money supply outstrips money demand in a localized way, then that is a bubble, and when in a general way, that is inflation.
The former shows up in certain asset, wholesale and/or producer prices, whilst the latter shows up in CPI. Asset prices include the S&P 500. But nominal GDP is also "ginned up" as it is ultimately a price times quantity measure as well. Price is expressed in money terms.
Conclusion
Gold can have ups and downs, as standard deviation indicates, due to the “animal spirits” of fear and uncertainty, that tend to be daily, weekly or monthly. Yet gold both protects and performs due to the “monetary spirits” of inflation and boom-bust, which tend to be decennially.
In particular, gold performs when the S&P 500 does not, like in the aftermaths of the 2001/2002 dot-com collapse, the 2008/2009 global financial crisis and 2020/2021 COVID-19 lockdowns.
Therefore, when it comes to gold, “follow the money” of central bank “money printing” and fractional reserve bank “fountain pen money,” for both superior inflation protection and boom-bust performance.
And besides, Skousen rightly "begged the question" as follows: “Gold and Silver have always had value, never gone to zero. Can you say the same for stocks and bonds?”
About Darren Brady Nelson
Darren Brady Nelson is chief economist with Fisher Liberty Gold and policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. He previously was economic advisor to Australian Senator Malcolm Roberts. He authored the Ten Principles of Regulation and Reform, and the CPI-X approach to budget cuts.
Click here to read Goldenomics 101: Follow the Money, and here to read Goldenomics 102: The Shadow Price of Gold.
