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Mako Gold Limited (“Mako” or “the Company”; ASX:MKG) is pleased to present its Quarterly Activities Report for the period ending 31 March 2022. Activities are reported for exploration at the Company’s flagship Napié Project (“Napié”) and the Korhogo Project in Côte d’Ivoire (Figure 1).
HIGHLIGHTS – NAPIÉ PROJECT - 30,000M DRILLED IN QUARTER
GOGBALA PROSPECT- Drilling identifies two new mineralised zones outside of the current resource drill area returning 6m at 5.05g/t Au and 4m at 4.82g/t Au which includes more than 1km of undrilled Napié Fault providing pathways for resource growth following the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) scheduled for Q2-CY22
- 109 of 139 reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) drill holes results reported intersected significant mineralisation, achieving a 78% success rate in drilling which will contribute to the size of maiden MRE. Notable results include:
- NARC660: 17m at 4.13g/t Au from 57m; including 5m at 12.02g/t Au from 62m
- NARC668: 7m at 1.26g/t Au from 22m; and
- 4m at 14.78g/t Au from 93m; including 2m at 27.83g/t Au from 93m
- NARC651: 10m at 1.63g/t Au from 69m; and
- 10m at 3.35/t Au from 102m; including 1m at 22.29g/t Au from 103m
- NARC579: 9m at 3.77g/t Au from 48m
- NARC569: 6m at 5.37g/t Au from 105m; including 3m at 9.61g/t Au from 106m
- NARC619: 1m at 30.89g/t Au from 46m
- NARC697: 6m at 5.05g/t Au from 79m; including 1m at 12.18g/t Au from 80m and 1m at 10.71g/t Au from 82m
- NARC703DD: 6m at 4.28g/t Au from 63m; including 1m at 14.65g/t Au from 68m
- NARC686: 4m at 4.82g/t Au from 113m
- NARC610: 5m at 4.61g/t Au from 158m; including 1m at 15.71g/t Au from 162m
- NARC642: 2m at 12.89g/t Au from 50m
- NARC643: 5m at 3.24g/t Au from 118m; including 1m at 8.17g/t Au from 119m
- NARC584: 1m at 28.93g/t Au from 115m
- NARC623: 15m at 1.17g/t Au from 109m; including 5m at 2.15g/t Au from 110m
- NARC632: 1m at 13.29g/t Au from 150m
TCHAGA PROSPECT
- Final (pre-maiden MRE) 17 RC/DD holes at Tchaga Prospect returned multiple high-grade intercepts, with 14 of 17 holes intersecting significant mineralisation. Notable results include:
- NARC621DD: 41m of mineralisation intersected over 7 zones averaging 2.85g/t Au, including:
- 6m at 1.24g/t Au from 48m; and
- 6.7m at 1.46g/t Au from 160.1m; including 1m at 6.87g/t Au from 160.1m; and
- 19.6m at 4.36g/t Au from 187.4m; including 2.2m at 23.49g/t Au from 189.8m
- NARC512DD: 14.6m of mineralisation intersected over 4 zones averaging 3.32g/t Au, including:
- 4.5m at 6.92g/t Au from 213.1; including 1m at 29.46g/t Au from 216.6m; and
- 5m at 2.28g/t Au from 256m
- NARC559DD: 63.1m of mineralisation intersected over 15 zones averaging 1.25g/t Au, including:
- 3m at 2.66g/t Au from 45m;
- 8.3m at 0.96g/t Au from 115.5m;
- 4.8m at 1.24g/t Au from 165.2m;
- 13m at 1.05g/t Au from 297m;
- 3.5m at 1.55g/t Au from 327.5m;
- 4m at 1.65g/t Au from 336m; and
- 5m at 1.66g/t Au from 361m; including 1m at 5.50g/t Au from 361m
- Results from Tchaga drilling to be included in upcoming maiden MRE scheduled for Q2-CY22
TCHAGA NORTH AND KOMBORO PROSPECTS
- Scout Aircore (AC) drill program completed on Komboro Prospect and partially completed on Tchaga North Prospect ahead of follow-up RC drill program
- Objective of program is to make new discoveries outside of the main Tchaga and Gogbala prospect areas as part of Mako’s overall strategy to define a multi-million-ounce resource on the Napié Permit
KORHOGO PROJECT
- 11,000m auger drilling program completed on high-priority structural and geochemical targets identified from previous work executed by Mako
- Maiden 5,000m RC drilling program planned following results from auger drilling
- The Korhogo Project has no previously recorded exploration and covers 296km2 of prospective tenure located within 15-30 km of Barrick’s 4.9Moz Tongon Gold Mine
CORPORATE
- $3.4M spent on exploration (drilling) this quarter to advance both Napié and Korhogo projects, with healthy $5.9M cash balance remaining at end of quarter
- Mako management was recently on-site to evaluate operations
During and subsequent to the reporting period 16,971m in 124 reverse circulation (RC) holes, 1,722m in 18 diamond drill (DD) holes, and 11,427m in 343 Aircore (AC) holes were drilled for a total of 30,120m drilled on the Napié Project.
The majority of drilling was conducted on the Gogbala Prospect during the reporting period to rapidly advance Gogbala in order to include it with Tchaga in the upcoming maiden MRE scheduled for Q2-CY22.
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MKG:AU
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.
