Gold had a strong week, up 1.26% to $US1,826.50oz.
Some experts say gold remains undervalued, on the cusp of a big breakout.
Meanwhile, the IPO extravaganza continued into July, with 7 gold-facing stocks having listed on the ASX so far.
Here’s a quick look at what they’re doing, and why you should care.
OZZ RESOURCES (ASX:OZZ)
Market Cap: ~$7 million
Change on listing price: -20%
The explorer has 5 WA gold projects near major production centres.
With $5m in the bank, a resource definition drilling program at ‘Maguires’ project is planned for this month, with ‘Mt Davis’ to follow.
At Maguires – called a rapid development opportunity by the company — 3 prospects have already been defined by previous drilling, which pulled up highlight intercepts like 6m at 18.6g/t.
LODE RESOURCES (ASX:LDR)
Market Cap: ~$14 million
Change on listing price: -10%
Lode has a bunch of projects in the underexplored New England Fold Belt of NSW, north of better-known Lachlan Fold.
The Uralla gold project — the first to be drilled — sits within a significant goldfield, which Lode believes hosts Intrusive Related Gold System (IRGS)-style mineralisation.
“Preparations for drilling at the Uralla gold project are well advanced and we anticipate kicking off a 3,000m, 15-hole program shortly,” managing director Ted Leschke says.
“Drilling will initially be focused on the Hudson’s prospect, the first of several key targets we have identified and where high-grade gold at surface has been encountered.”
The company plans 6,000m of reverse circulation drilling across three projects this year, with a further 9,500m planned for 2022.
ASKARI METALS (ASX:AS2)
Market Cap: $8.7 million
Change on listing price: +5%
The copper-gold explorer has 5 key projects — each with previous exploration success — in WA and NSW.
Planning for an initial 2000m drilling campaign at ‘Burracoppin’ is in its final stages, designed to follow up several high-grade historic results (like 18m at 5.64g/t from surface) below a bunch of artisanal workings.
PACGOLD (ASX:PGO)
Market Cap: $13 million
Change on listing price: +20%
The 377sqkm ‘Alice River’ project in Queensland is centred on the Alice River Goldfield, which was discovered in 1903 and produced 93.3kg of gold to 1917.
Pacgold’s initial focus is on three priority targets.
At Central Target – which features strong geophysical targets along strike from an open pit mine — first phase drilling of 2,200m is due to kick off soon.
After that comes Southern Target (1,500m planned) and Northern Target (500m planned).
MT MONGER RESOURCES (ASX:MTM)
Market Cap: $8.5 million
Change on listing price: 0%
The WA goldfields explorer expects to kick off drilling at the Mt Monger and the East Laverton gold projects in August.
Mt Monger, which includes a number of old brownfields targets, is just 5km from Lefroy Exploration’s (ASX:”LEX) company changing ‘Burns’ discovery.
At East Laverton, the company is hunting multimillion ounce ‘Tropicana or Gruyere’ style gold deposits, as well as rare earths.
LOCKSLEY RESOURCES (ASX:LKY)
Market Cap: $12 million
Change on listing price: 0%
The 470km2 ‘Tottenham’ project in NSW is a historic site, largely underexplored by modern standards.
The company has set an initial exploration target at the ‘Carolina’ and ‘Mount Royal’ deposits of 90,600 gold ounces and 86,100 tonnes of copper.
Early drilling priorities include upgrading this potential project resource to JORC 2012 standards and extending it with immediate exploration.
RESOURCE BASE (ASX:RBX)
Market Cap: $7.5 million
Change on listing price: -12.5%
RBX’s ‘Black Range’ project in Victoria — just north of the recent Thursdays Gossan copper discovery by Stavely Minerals (ASX:SVY) — covers multiple, largely untested targets including the Eclipse, Lexington, Glenlyle and Pollockdale prospects.
The company is focused on establishing an initial resource from existing geological data within six months of listing.