Today’s most important small cap gold news, so far

Yandal Resources (ASX:YRL) has just returned “one of its best downhole intercepts to date” at the 190,000oz (and growing) Flushing Meadows gold deposit – 5m at 5.84 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, including 1m 21.06g/t from 33m.

The WA explorer will now embark on a big 10,000m drilling program to support an open pit mining feasibility study.

“These high-grade results from shallow depths are encouraging and continue to demonstrate the potential to define an economically robust open pit mine,” managing director Lorry Hughes says.

“Drilling will resume at the prospect shortly to provide essential geological data for a feasibility study and submission of a mining proposal to the Department of Mines, Industry, Regulation and Safety.

“Work on a number of other activities to support development has also commenced including stakeholder engagement, environmental assessment, new tenement applications and discussions with third party processing facilities.

Yandal aims to submit a mining proposal in the December quarter 2020.

READ: Barry FitzGerald — Fresh out of IPO, gold junior Yandal Resources has hit the ground running

Despite some small setbacks, Resources & Energy Group (ASX:REZ) is staying aggressive at the flagship East Menzies gold project in WA.

Most historical drilling at East Menzies is shallow and “clustered” near outcropping rocks, the company says, which means significant areas of highly prospective tenure remain untested.

An ongoing regional exploration program will be expanded from 15,000m to +20,000m of drilling, after on-ground recon identified a couple of extra targets.

So far, 10,343m of drilling has been completed. Progress so far has been hampered by “weather events”, so the program is now expected to be completed in mid-April.

The company expects to start releasing all-important drilling results in coming weeks.

Bardoc Gold’s (ASX:BDC) namesake 3moz, ~135,000oz per year project near Kalgoorlie will generate $426m profit over an initial 8-year life, the company says.

A pre-feasibility study (PFS) released today also estimates a pretty healthy all in sustaining cost (AISC) of around $1,220/oz – which means a potential profit of around $1,300/oz based on current prices.

AISC is a good measure to appraise the profitability of a project because it includes everything, from mining, refining and transport, through to administration and exploration.

Bardoc will cost about $142.4m to get into production, which could be paid back in just over two and a half years, the company says.

READ: These four +1moz explorers keep uncovering more treasure

Enterprise Metals (ASX:ENT) will pick up exploration ground near Anglo Australian Resources’ (ASX:AAR) Mandilla gold project, about 20km from Kambalda in WA. Enterprise’s gold project is also called Mandilla, which is confusing.

In March, Anglo raised a handy $5.5m to fund a ~30,000m drilling blitz designed to extend the shallow high-grade gold it has identified at ‘Mandilla East’.

READ: Tim Treadgold — Back to work at Mandilla after the hatchet is buried at Anglo Australian