After heavy selling of Pilbara gold explorers on Monday, it appears investors are dipping their toes back in the water — albeit with a high degree of caution.

A disappointing update from cheerleader Canada’s Novo Resources over the weekend prompted significant losses among local Pilbara gold stocks on Monday. Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV), Novo’s partner in the Purdy’s Reward project, and De Grey Mining (ASX:DEG) bore the brunt of the sell-off.

After Monday’s reality check, expert Mathew Walker of the Cicero Group told Stockhead now might “time to be buying and not selling”.

“Nothing has changed in respect to the integrity of the geological thesis”, Mr Walker said.

On Tuesday, some investors nodded their heads in agreement.

While Artemis and De Grey lost more ground, Kairos Minerals closed up 3.9 per cent at 5.4c after announcing it had started a new drilling program at its Roe Hills project 120km east of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.

Kairos attracted substantial investor interest after it reported in September that it had uncovered Witwatersrand-style conglomerate-hosted gold mineralisation similar to the discoveries made by Novo and Artemis at its Pilbara sites.

Marindi Metals (ASX:MZN) also found support — climbing 21.4 per cent to a high of 1.7c before retracing its gains back to 1.4c. The company told investors last week that a recent field trip to its Bellary Dome project resulted in the discovery of 63 gold pieces and flattened nuggets or coarse gold, from the panning of a creek close to old workings.

Dual-listed Chalice Gold Mines (ASX:CHN, TSX:CHN) gained 5.9 per cent to close at 18c. Chalice showed up on investors’ radars in early October after announcing it was planning to start drilling at its West Pilbara gold project.

The company recently completed the 9,200m drilling program at the project and is undertaking a 7,700m drilling program at its East Cadillac gold project in Quebec, Canada.

With exploration activities underway, Chalice is “optimistic about the company’s prospects over the coming 12 months,” chairman Anthony Kiernan said at today’s AGM.

DGO Gold (ASX:DGO) shifted up almost 5 per cent to close at $1.28. The company’s share price rocketed in August after it reported that its Mallina ground in the Pilbara has “sediments analogous in age with the Witwatersrand gold province in South Africa”.

Meanwhile, Artemis fell back a further 6.6 per cent to 28.5c despite announcing that it has dug up a further 3.6kg of specimen gold from its Silica Hills project, while De Grey slipped 5.6 per cent to 17c.

Mark Creasy-backed Coziron Resources slid 19.2 per cent to 2.1c. Earlier in November, Coziron bought up further Pilbara land in the hunt for conglomerate gold from Mr Creasy, the company’s biggest shareholder and a renowned prospector.

Southern Hemisphere Mining (ASX:SUH) also retreated, losing 6.3 per cent to close at 15c. In October, the company picked up two new exploration licences 400km South East of Karratha potentially prospective for conglomerate gold.

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