Overview
Nexus Gold Corp. (TSXV:NXS,OTC:NXXGF,FWB:N6E) is a Vancouver-based exploration company focused on gold development projects in premier mining and exploration districts. The company holds three gold assets in Burkina Faso, West Africa in addition to gold projects in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland, Canada.
Pro-mining Burkina Faso is one of the largest gold-producing countries in Africa. The country was ranked second in the continent and sixty-ninth globally in The Fraser Institute of Canada’s “Survey of Mining Companies 2017.” There are currently seven gold mines in production in the country, which has excellent geological potential. With less than 15 years of modern mineral exploration, Burkina Faso remains under-explored compared to neighboring Ghana and Mali.
The adjacent Nexus property, Rakounga, increases the company’s area footprint to 288 square kilometers. Two of the three gold trends identified at Bouboulou have now been confirmed to reach across Rakounga, creating a large singular trend of significant size. Drilling at Rakounga has returned both grade and length, with highlights including 32 meters of 1.01 g/t gold (including 6 meters of 2.81 g/t gold and 2m of 5.65 g/t gold) and 34 meters of 1 g/t gold (including four meters of 5.57 g/t gold).
Nexus Gold’s Niangouela gold property also resides in the Boromo Greenstone belt. The company is currently awaiting results from its 2018 work program. Exploration at Niangouela is aimed at developing a resource estimate for the property.
Nexus Gold has recently acquired its fourth Burkina Faso project, Dakouli 2, which is immediately southeast of the company’s Niangouela property and has also seen evidence of previous artisanal mining. Since acquiring the property, Nexus Gold has completed an initial rock sampling program, which returned assays of up to 29.5 g/t gold and values between 2.90 g/t gold and 12.4 g/t gold.
The company is currently conducting a geochemical survey on the northern half of the Dakouli 2 property and southern portions of the Niangouela property after identifying an anomalous gold zone to the west of the main zone. To date, Nexus Gold has identified over 20 kilometers of gold trends in three areas on the Dakouli 2 property.
Nexus Gold has recently acquired five gold projects in Canada: New Pilot, McKenzie, GB, Bauline and Black Ridge. The New Pilot gold project in British Columbia has seen extensive historical exploration, where three zones of interest were established by a previous operator. Grab samples as high as 103 g/t gold have been recovered, in addition to chip samples collected from the property which include over 10 meters grading 4.03 g/t gold. Recent exploration at McKenzie has returned samples that assayed 135.4 g/t gold and 9.3 g/t gold.
Nexus Gold’s acquisition of the GB, Bauline and Black Ridge properties in Newfoundland marks the beginning of a substantial landholding in the province. Currently, the company controls 3,325-hectares in a mining-friendly jurisdiction with recent regional discovery success and high-profile M&A activity. Nexus Gold is currently reviewing data and initiating maiden exploration programs on the three properties.
Nexus Gold’s Company Highlights
- Three new distinct anomalous gold trends were recently identified at the Bouboulou gold concession in Burkina Faso.
- Previous drilling at Bouboulou confirmed multiple zones of gold mineralization, establishing both length and grade.
- Recent exploration has identified a 15-kilometer gold trend at Bouboulou and Rakounga.
- Sampling at Niangouela has established the presence of high-grade gold mineralization, with values as high as 2,950 g/t.
- The first drill holes at the concession confirmed high-grade gold mineralization, highlighted by a 4.85-meter intercept of 26.69 g/t gold, including one meter of 132 g/t gold.
- Dakouli 2 property offers exploration potential and has seen extensive historical exploration.
- Recent exploration returned assays up to 29.5 g/t gold and values between 2.90 g/t gold and 12.4 g/t gold.
- New Pilot project has seen historical exploration work.
- Previous operators have recovered over 10 meters grading 4.03 g/t gold in chip samples taken from the property.
- Nexus Gold controls 3,325 hectares in Newfoundland.
- McKenzie has seen limited exploration work.
- Historic exploration has returned values of up to 331 g/t gold.
- Entered into a definitive share purchase agreement on September 23, 2021 to acquire Cyclone North Resources Inc.
Nexus Gold’s Key Projects
The Niangouela Gold Concession
Nexus Gold’s Niangouela gold concession covers 178 square kilometers and is located in the well-known Boromo Greenstone Belt. It is road accessible and has one major artisanal working.
Ongoing Exploration
In 2018, Nexus Gold completed a drill program at Niangouela. Results from the program are pending. The company intends to continue its exploration efforts with the aim of developing a resource estimate for the property.
Exploration
Previous work on the Niangouela gold concession includes a total of 1,137 rock and soil samples taken from 556 pits and 11 trenches. Rock samples have returned values up to 18 g/t gold and trenching has returned values of 4.85 g/t gold over 10 meters. Work completed by a previous owner also identified a zone that runs ENE and WSW in the south-central part of the concession. This zone has returned gold-in-soil samples up to 34 g/t gold.
The company completed sampling and an 800-meter rotary air-blast (RAB) drilling at the Niangouela gold concession in December 2016. This initial work was designed to test the top 30 meters of saprolitic rock and results began to come back in January.
A high-grade quartz vein sample was recovered from 46 meters below surface in an artisanal shaft, it returned 2,950 g/t gold. Another sample collected from the artisanal dumps of the sheared intrusive, returned a value of 23.9 g/t gold and samples taken from the material extracted from an artisanal shaft at a depth of approximately 60 meters returned a value of 403 g/t gold. Another sample taken 10 to 12 meters away returned a value of 49.8 g/t gold.
Nexus Gold began a 2,000-meter Phase One drill program at the Niangouela gold concession in January 2017. The program was designed to test the primary quartz vein at the property and associated shear at depth and along strike, targeting areas of gold anomalies identified from rock samples and RAB drilling. Initial results were released in March. Eight of the first nine holes drilled at the concession intercepted gold. Significant gold mineralization was encountered in four of the eight, including:
- 69 g/t gold over 4.85 meters (including 11.7 g/t gold over 0.62 meter, and 132.00 g/t gold over 1.03 meter);
- 00 g/t gold over 6.20 meter (including 20.50 g/t gold over 1.00 meter);
- 95 g/t gold over 4.00 meters (including 5.92 g/t gold over 1.00 meter and 5.00 g/t gold over 1.00 meter); and
- 80 g/t gold over 5.10 meters (including 6.14 g/t gold over 1.10 meters).
In May 2017, Nexus gold completed its 2,572-meter Phase Two drill program at Niangouela. The program tested the east and west extensions of the main zone as well as new targets.
The Bouboulou Gold Concession
The Bouboulou gold concession covers an area of about 38.8 square kilometers in the Boromo Greenstone Belt, located about 75 kilometers northwest of the capital city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Bouboulou is a near-surface, advanced-stage gold exploration project and features four zones of gold mineralization: Koala, Rawema, Bouboulou 2 and Pelatanga.
The property is bisected by the Sabce shear zone, which is host to numerous artisanal gold zones over a length of 120 kilometers and Norgold’s nearby Bissa mine. Nexus Gold has the option to earn up to 100 percent interest in the Bouboulou gold concession.
Previous exploration programs on the site uncovered surface rock sampling and trenching returning gold grades from 1.09 g/t gold to 19.16 g/t gold.
Ongoing exploration
In August 2018, Nexus Gold completed a 105-line-kilometer soil sampling survey to test the gold-bearing potential between their Koaltenga gold zone on their Rakounga concession and their Pelatanga-Rawema gold trend on their Bouboulou property. The survey successfully identified a seven-kilometer anomalous gold trend that aligns with the five-kilometer Pelatanga-Rawema trend.
“The goal of the soil grid program was to establish continuity of the gold trends at Bouboulou onto the adjacent Rakounga concession. The results indicate a sizeable trend extends from the northeast of Bouboulou to the southwest of Rakounga. We’re pleased with the results, that’s a big footprint, and suggestive of the potential at Rakounga,” said Nexus Gold President and CEO Alex Klenman.
Nexus gold will be continuing its exploration initiatives with the goal of developing a resource estimate for the property.
Previous drill programs
In 2011 and 2012, Roxgold conducted diamond drill and a reverse circulation (RC) drill programs at the concession, then called Bissa West. The best results included 1.54 g/t gold over 40 meters, including 2.25 g/t gold over 20 meters; 2.20 g/t gold over 35 meters, including 5.40 g/t gold over 12 meters; and 2.84 g/t gold over 10 meters from the RC drilling. The diamond drill program highlights include 12.53 g/t gold over four meters and 4.62 g/t gold over six meters, including 81.32 g/t gold over 0.3 meters.
Three new anomalous gold trends identified
Drill programs previously conducted at Bouboulou also returned significant gold intersections at three different drill holes: 4.62 g/t gold over 6m including 81.32 g/t gold over 0.3m, 5.33 g/t gold over 2m including 12.53 g/t gold over 4m and 5.43 g/t gold over 2m. All zones are open in all directions.
Dakouli 2 Project
In November 2018, Nexus Gold acquired the 198-square-kilometer Dakouli 2 gold concession in central Burkina Faso. The property is located approximately 100 kilometers due north of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou and is immediately south of the company’s Niangouela property.
The property is situated in the Boromo-Goren greenstone belt and is bisected by the Sabce shear zone, which hosts Nordgold’s 3 million-ounce Bissa deposit approximately 20 kilometers to the northeast of the Dakouli 2 property.
Exploration
Since acquiring the property, Nexus Gold has completed an initial rock sampling program on the property. Results from the program have returned assays of up to 29.5 g/t gold with several samples containing visible gold. A total of 12 samples were taken from the Northeast zone and six of the 12 samples returned values between 2.90 g/t gold and 12.4 g/t gold.
In March 2019, Nexus Gold completed a termite mound sampling program on the property as a follow up to the exploration work conducted in January. Results from the program outlined an anomalous zone that extends 500 meters west of the current workings. Based on these results, the company will be conducting a 190-line-kilometer soil geochemical survey on the northern half of the Dakouli 2 property and southern portions of the Niangouela property.
Nexus Gold has also initiated a geochemical program on the property to help identify priority drill targets for the company’s maiden drill program. Through the program, the company was able to identify over 20 kilometers of gold trends in three areas on the property. The primary gold trend parallels the Sabce fault zone which extends for approximately 10 kilometers, in a northeast-southwest direction. The two secondary gold trends extend for approximately 6.5 kilometers and are oriented in a northwest to southeast direction.
Gabon Gold Concessions
In July 2019, Nexus Gold has signed an LOI to secure three exploration permits in Gabon, West Africa. The three concessions total up to 4,102-square-kilometers. According to the company, Gabon has proven to be an investor-friendly environment with a large oil and gas industry that has been around for several decades. The country is considered underexplored for precious metal deposits compared to other countries in the region. Gabon is located on the west coast of Africa and is home to the deep-water port at the capital city, Libreville. The three permits are within 300 kilometers of Libreville and have access to infrastructure.
Historical Exploration
Throughout the concession areas, the gold mineralization appears to have strong structural controls and two types of mineralization have been identified: pyrite-rich massive sulfide and a thick black shale unit. Historical results from the main mineralized trend have returned intercepts of nine meters grading 7.6 g/t gold, 13.5 meters grading 1.5 g/t gold, three meters grading 3.3 g/t gold and 15 meters grading 37.7 g/t gold.
Approximately 1,000 meters of core drilling was completed in the central gold-in-soil anomaly of one of the permits and high-grade gold mineralization in a 120-meter-wide deformational zone was encountered. Results from the program include 5.3 g/t gold in the first drill line and 2.2 meters grading 4.5 g/t gold in the second drill line.
Nexus Gold’s Canadian Assets
New Pilot Gold Project
In January 2019, Nexus Gold acquired the 1,257-acre New Pilot copper-gold exploration-stage project in the Bridge River mining camp in British Columbia, Canada. The property is located 180 kilometers north of Vancouver and 10.5 kilometers west of Gold Bridge, British Columbia. The property is accessible by paved road and has seen historical exploration.
The property is also 18 kilometers southeast of the producing Bralorne Pioneer mine, which resides in the Barlorne gold camp. Between 1928 and 1971, the Bralorne, Pioneer and King mines produced 4.15 million ounces of gold.
Historical exploration
Over the past 80 years, exploration programs have been conducted over or near the property by operators working on the Pilot mine and its strike extension.
Between 1992 and 1994, Cogema Canada Ltd. conducted a detailed prospecting and sampling program, where 99 grab samples were recovered from three zones. Three samples returned values over 100 g/t gold, including 102 g/t gold, 106 g/t gold and 111 g/t gold. An additional three samples returned values of over 10 g/t gold and another 14 samples returning values of over 1.0 g/t gold.
Cogema also recovered an additional 59 soil samples, 229 rock samples and 66 core samples from a 108-meter drill program. Highlights from the program include chip sample collected over 10 meters grading 4.03 g/t gold and five-meter samples of 1,470 ppb in Zone A, 3,702 ppb in Zone B and 6,425 ppb in Zone C. Drilling results over 10.5 meters grading 1 g/t gold were also recovered.
Additionally, Cogema’s rock sampling program identified three areas with elevated bedrock gold values, including 228 ppb gold in Zone A, 378 ppb in Zone B and 752 ppb in Zone C.
Ongoing exploration
The company will be conducting an initial work program that will include mapping, sampling, geophysical and geochemical work.
McKenzie Gold Project
In February 2019, Nexus Gold acquired the 1,348.5-hectare McKenzie gold property in Ontario’s Red Lake gold camp. The property is near several past-producing properties and hosts nine documented historical gold occurrences. To date, the project has seen limited exploration.
Historical exploration
In 2005, Cypress Development Corp. (TSXV:CYP) conducted a small drill program near the southern boundary that intersected a 600-meter long east to west trending mineralized zone that is open along strike and to depth. Cypress recovered an intersect of six meters grading 2.2 g/t gold from the program.
In 2017, a ground reconnaissance program recovered samples of up to 313 g/t gold and a new showing was identified in the northern portion of the project, which returned multiple high-grade samples ranging between 9.37 g/t gold and 331 g/t gold. The discovery area lies approximately 100 meters west of a historical showing where values of up to 212.8 g/t gold have been recovered according to provincial government files.
Ongoing Exploration
In May 2019, Nexus Gold finalized its exploration plans for the McKenzie project. The program is expected to include prospecting and ground geochemical and geophysical surveys to identify geologic trends and structures suitable for drill testing. To date, the company has recovered samples that assayed 135.4 g/t gold and 9.3 g/t gold.
GB Copper-Gold Project
In May 2019, Nexus Gold acquired the 2,525-hectare GB copper-gold project in Newfoundland. The project is located 15 kilometers south of South Brook and 40 kilometers north of Badger on the Trans-Canada Highway. The property is accessible by wood roads.
Historical exploration
The property hosts an anomalous gold occurrence in an outcrop that graded up to 4.2 g/t gold. The property also has several large boulders containing pyrrhotite, pyrite and chalcopyrite on the southwestern side of the property that have returned assays between 2.76 percent copper and 4.02 percent copper. The GB property contains three additional occurrences located on the western portion of the property: Moose Brook, Tommy’s Arm and Rocky Point.
Bauline and Black Ridge Gold Projects
In June 2019, Nexus Gold expanded its landholdings in Newfoundland with the acquisition of the Bauline and Black Ridge gold projects. The Black Ridge gold project is a high-grade gold-silver-copper prospect that hosts several known mineral occurrences, including areas that have produced samples of 15.8 g/t gold, 15.5 g/t gold, 12.1 percent copper and 143 g/t silver. The Bauline project also contains multiple gold occurrences that have returned values of up to 2.8 g/t gold.
Nexus Gold’s Management Team
Milad Zareian - CEO
Milad Zareinan has been with the company as vice-president, operations, since September of 2022, Zareian brings over 10 years of experience working with both private and public companies in a variety of capacities. He has been directly involved with new public listings and start-ups, leading financing, shareholder communications and business development initiatives for multiple companies.
Alex Klenman - Director
Alex Klenman brings over 30 years of business development, finance, marketing, media and corporate communications experience to his lead role with Nexus. He served as vice-president, corporate finance for Columbia Star Resources and as chairman and chief operating officer of the company from 2015 through May 1, 2018. He has held senior management and board positions in both the public and private sectors and currently sits on the boards of multiple public companies.
Prior to 2012, Klenman also served as a communications consultant for several TSXV listed resource companies, including Roxgold Inc., Integra Gold, Forum Uranium, Midnight Sun Mining, among others. In addition, he also spent 10 years in broadcasting, which included notable board positions with CKVU Television in Vancouver and Canwest Pacific Television. He is also currently president and CEO of Azincourt Energy Corp.
Brian Shin - Chief Financial Officer
Brian Shin specializes in providing financial reporting, corporate finance, auditing, corporate strategy, risk management and other accounting services to both public and private companies in various industries. He holds the professional designation of Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) in BC and Canada and Certified Management Consultant (CMC). Shin has had extensive experience as a consultant, controller and auditor for numerous publicly traded and private corporations in several industries in multiple countries such as Canada, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
Kevin Shum - Director
Kevin Mr. Shum has over 35 years in the capital markets, having spent many years as a retail broker managing a large portfolio of investors at Canaccord, Wolverton, and PI Financial. He brings a wide network of contacts in the small cap space to his role as independent director.
Ian Stalker - Non-Executive Chairman and Director
Ian Stalker has over 40 years of development and operational mining experience in countries around the world, including over a decade working in West Africa. Among his many senior executive positions, he was Managing Director of Ashanti Goldfields Co. Limited; Vice President of Gold Fields Ltd., at one point the world’s fourth largest gold producer; and Chairman and CEO of Brazilian Gold Corp. Currently, he is Chairman of Plateau Uranium, President & CEO of LSC Lithium and Director of K92 Mining Inc., a TSX listed company that operates a high-grade gold mine in Papua New Guinea. He has successfully managed over eight mining projects through exploration and development to mining production.
Warren Robb, P. Geo - Senior Vice President of Exploration and Director
Warren Robb graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and brings over 25 years of mineral exploration experience to Columbia Star Resources. Robb has worked for both senior and junior mining companies and has extensive operational and drill program management experience ranging from small preliminary testing to expansive programs for ore reserve definition to mining operations. Robb has managed exploration programs for precious and base metals throughout Canada, the United States, China, Africa and South America. In 2012, Robb served as Chief Geologist for Roxgold, where he supervised both field exploration and the diamond drilling program on the company’s Yaramoko gold property in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
Jean Claude Ouedraogo, BAA – Country Manager
Jean Claude Ouedraogo is a graduate of the University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada. For the past 20 years, in both Canada and Africa, he has served as a director for several private companies in the mineral and resource sector. In 2011, he held the position of country manager in Burkina Faso for Roxgold Inc. In this capacity, he assisted in the operations of company projects notably the discovery and development at Yaramoko, while maintaining good relations with the various government ministries responsible for mining and exploration.
Rodney Stevens – Independent Director
Rodney Stevens is a CFA charter holder with over 10 years of experience in the capital markets, first as an investment analyst with Salman Partners Inc., then as a merchant and investment banker. While at Salman Partners, he became a top-rated analyst by StarMine on July 17, 2007 for the metals and mining industry. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in assisting in financings and M&A activity worth over $1 billion in transaction value.
Figure 1. Photo of massive quartz carbonate veining intersected in drill-hole BWSRCD082 diamond tail at Hammer’s Central Target Zone (213m to 221.5m).
Figure 2. Plan view of the Bronzewing South tenement EPM36/854, showing Bronzewing orebodies on Northern Star Resources mining lease, historical Hammer RC drilling intercepts and the structural corridor of interest containing Hammer’s Central and Eastern Target Zones (refer to ASX announcement 9 November 2020).
