Prominent Perth businessman Edward van Heemst has dug in deeper with junior NTM Gold.

The move is a “vote of confidence” in the company and its Redcliffe gold project in Western Australia, chief Rodney Foster told Stockhead.

Shares closed up 15.4 per cent at 6c on Monday.

NTM shares have recovered somewhat from its 52-week low of 3.5c in August, but are still down on the peak of 7.8c reached in mid-March last year. Source: Investing.com
NTM shares have recovered somewhat from its 52-week low of 3.5c in August, but are still down on the peak of 7.8c reached in mid-March last year. Source: Investing.com

Mr van Heemst, who has been an investor in NTM (ASX:NTM) for 12 months or more, acquired a further 1.75 million shares for $77,000 in December, raising his stake to 6.4 per cent and making him a substantial shareholder.

“He and another few Perth-based businessman, including Keith Biggs, David Reid (a former stockbroker), have got a fair stake in the company and are very convinced as to what we’re doing with the project and how good the project can be,” Mr Foster said.

Making the grade

Recent drilling at NTM’s Redcliffe project has uncovered more high-grade gold. A new high-grade target — the E2 Lode — has returned hits of 5 metres at 31.4 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold from 40 metres and 5 metres at 7.33 g/t from 85 metres.

Anything over 5 g/t is considered high-grade. In Australia it has become much harder and more costly to find high-grade gold, especially near surface, given miners’ past penchant for “high-grading” during the downturn.

This has meant grades closer to the surface are now much lower and explorers have to go much deeper to find the better grades.

The drilling program that was undertaken at the Nambi prospect was aimed at further extending the three high-grade lodes below and south of the historical pit.

“Drilling at Nambi continues to deliver high-grade results from now three mineralised lodes,” Mr Foster told investors in mid-December.

“Our 2017 exploration campaign has been highly successful in intersecting interpreted extensions to high-grade zones at known deposits in Nambi and GTS, as well as identifying new discoveries including Bindy.”

NTM shares have recovered somewhat from its 52-week low of 3.5c in August, but are still down on the peak of 7.8c reached in mid-March last year.

Wisdom in the west

Mr van Heemst, who is managing director of Vanguard Press and chairman of Perth Commerce Racing, has been a significant investor in the Western Australian mining sector for decades.

“We certainly listen to what he says and take it on board,” Mr Foster told Stockhead.

Mr van Heemst has built a substantial shareholding in Redstone Resources (ASX:RDS) since the discovery of significant hydrothermal copper sulphide mineralisation at the Tollu project in the West Musgrave region of Western Australia.

As of September last year, he had a 13.29 per cent stake in Redstone and has been a non-executive director on the board since July 2012.

It is also “not out of the question” that Mr van Heemst could potentially join the board of NTM, Mr Foster said.

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