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Ora Gold Limited (“Ora” or the “Company”, ASX: OAU) is pleased to announce further high-grade gold intercepts from reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Crown Prince Gold Prospect (M51/886).
Highlights:
- Further assay results from the company’s RC drilling at the Garden Gully Gold Project have been received.
- High-grade gold results returned from South-Eastern Ore Body (SEB). These results come from the down dip parts of the SEB structure and Au-bearing quartz lode within fresh, sheared-dolerite (i.e. primary zone / fresh rock). Best intercepts include:
- 21m @ 11.05g/t Au from 113m in OGGRC471, incl. 9m @ 22.24g/t Au from 121m
- 24m @ 3.96g/t Au from 27m in OGGRC477 incl. 8m @ 7.27g/t Au from 35m
- 17m @ 1.85g/t Au from 101m in OGGRC480, incl. 7m @ 3.5g/t Au from 111m
- 5m @ 6.13g/t Au from 182m in OGGRC468, and 3m @ 3.45g/t Au from 195m
- These results include assays from hole OGGRC471 which is the deepest hole drilled at the newly delineated SEB ore body. This drill hole highlights good mineralisation continuity at depth. The mineralised zone is open below this hole.
- The high-grade CVX lode within SEB was intersected at 113m metres downhole well below the top of fresh rock and base of oxidation and down dip from previously reported high grade intersections (refer ASX release 8 May 2022).
Drill holes in the current program have successfully delineated extensions to mineralized zones along strike of known mineralisation (to the north-west and south-east) and also in down-dip positions. In several areas new zones of gold mineralisation are indicated to be present in the footwall to previously drilled lodes.
The Crown Prince south-east extension (SEB) continues to develop as a key growth area for gold resources at the prospect.
Ora Gold’s CEO Alex Passmore commented: “We are pleased to report further high-grade gold intercepts from Crown Prince Prospect. These results will be used in an upcoming resource estimation. The drilling discussed in this release indicates that the SEB ore body is strongly mineralised in the primary zone i.e. well below the top of fresh rock and we look forward to further drilling in this area. Diamond drilling to target deeper zones is set to commence shortly with shallower up-dip positions being better defined by air-core and slimline RC drilling currently. All data received so far suggests the SEB zone mineralisation commences at shallow depths, is high-grade over good widths and hence is likely to show robust economic outcomes in any conceptual mining scenario.”
The Crown Prince Prospect is a high-grade gold deposit within Ora Gold’s Garden Gully Project. Crown Prince is located 22 kilometers north-west of Meekatharra in Western Australia via the Great Northern Highway and the Mt Clere Road (Figure 1).
The majority of assay results from an RC drill program undertaken in March and April targeting the Main Ore Body (MOB) and the South East Ore Body (SEB) have been received (Figure 2). Air core and slimline RC drilling is currently underway with diamond drilling set to commence in early June 2023.
The results in this release include a new high-grade extension to the South Eastern Ore Body (SEB) importantly this is the deepest intersection at this ore body thus far (Figures 2,3 and 4). Mineralisation is open at depth.
All hole details and sampling information are included in Table 1. Assay results with more than 0.1ppm Au are included in Appendix 1.
Primary gold mineralization from OGGRC471 (CVX Lode; South-East Extension)
Figure 1. Garden Gully tenements and the main gold prospect’s location
Figure 2. RC drill hole collars, traces, and structural setting over the Crown Prince Gold Prospect
South-Eastern Ore Body (SEB)
Additional high-grade gold intercepts have been returned and are reported in this release. The best intersections are located down-dip from the previously reported mineralized zone at SEB. Primary high- grade gold mineralisation has been confirmed showing the down-dip continuity of the CVX Lode (OGGRC471: 21m @ 11.05g/t Au from 113m in OGGRC471, incl. 9m @ 22.24g/t Au from 121m, refer Figures 3 and 4, AA’ cross section). This intercept is well below the TOFR and will be further tested at depth by diamond drilling (Figure 4).
Click here for the full ASX Release
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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.
