Morning Briefing: Ivanhoe Publishes Resource Estimate from Santa Cruz

Welcome to Mining Stock Daily. I’m Trevor Hall. And I’m Paul Harris.

Today is Tuesday February 14th.

Gold on Monday rallied up to $1877 per ounce starting at midnight NY time but then headed south about 30 minutes before the Asian markets turned off the lights for the night. The price was taken down to $1864 going into the a.m. London fix, bounced briefly then headed down to $1862 before settling the afternoon digital session at $1864. The Mining Stock Journal is not sure why gold was hit given that the dollar also sold off at the same time. In contrast, silver bounced up and down as if on a bungee-chord, oscillating between $21.82 and $22.02 per ounce, touching $22.08 at one point before settling at $21.97. The Mining Stock Journal said it looks like silver's industrial component took control as it moved somewhat in correlation with the S&P 500.  

The mining stocks were down marginally, with the Amex Gold Bugs index down about half a percent and the GDX down 0.14%. The big news in the mining stocks Monday was the acquisition of Sabina Gold & Silver by B2 Gold for approximately US$823 million all stock deal. The Mining Stock Journal said that, on the surface, it looks like a good deal for B2 Gold but it will have a more in-depth look and issue an opinion in the next issue of the Mining Stock Journal.

We will get to the news from the miners and explorers in a moment, but first a word about today’s sponsor.

This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by…Fireweed Metals

Fireweed Metals is advancing 3 different projects within the Yukon and Northwest Territories, including the flagship Macmillan Pass Project, a large zinc-lead-silver deposit and the Mactung Project, one of the largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits in the world. Fireweed plans to advance these projects through exploration, resource definition, metallurgy, engineering, economic studies and collaboration with indigenous people on the path to production. For more information please visit fireweedmetals.com.

And here’s what you need to know this morning….

Trilogy Metals announced an updated Feasibility Study for its Arctic Copper-Zinc-Lead-Silver-Gold Project in the Ambler Mining District of Alaska, with a conventional open-pit mine-and-mill complex for a 10,000 tonne-per-day operation for a minimum 13-year mine life. The Company has updated capital and operating costs to the fourth quarter of 2022, along with long-term commodity prices. Annual metal production falls slightly to 148.8Mlb copper, 172.6Mlb zinc, 27.8Mlb lead, 32,539oz gold and 2.8Moz silver following an initial capital cost of US$1.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the 2020 feasibility. The project now yields an estimated after-tax NPV of $1.1 billion at an 8% discount rate and after-tax IRR of 22.8%. At current spot metals prices these become $1.6 billion and 27.8%. (TSX/NYSE American: TMQ) news release

Ivanhoe Electric released an updated Resource Estimate for the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona featuring a 65% Increase in Tonnage and 82% Increase in Total Contained Copper in Indicated Resources, an 11% increases in contained Copper in Indicated Resources, with a Near-Doubling of the Copper Cut-Off Grade to 0.7% copper. The Resource now includes the maiden Resources declared at the East Ridge Deposit directly adjacent to Santa Cruz, and at the Texaco Deposit a mile to the northeast. Indicated Resources at Santa Cruz now total 226.7Mt grading 1.24% copper for 2.8Mt of contained copper and Inferred Resources total 149Mt grading 1.24% copper for 1.8 million tonnes contained. Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE American and TSX:IE) news release

Cartier Resources announced drill results in the East Chimo Mine Sector, located at the midpoint of 450 m between the Chimo Mine and West Nordeau sectors. In the 5NE Gold Zone, drilling intersected 5.2 g/t Au over 4.0 m including 16.5 g/t Au over 0.5 m. This intersection increases the length of Zone 5NE by 320 m, which now has a total length of 1,150 m. In the 5BS Gold Zone, drilling intersected 3.9 g/t Au over 6.9 m including 9.0 g/t Au over 1.0 m. This intersection increases the length of Zone 5BS by 110 m, which now has a total length of 350 m. The Chimo Mine Project now consists of 29 gold zones that are situated within 19 gold structures, drilled over a strike length of 3.7 km and locally up to a depth of 1.6 km. Cartier Resources trades on the TSXV with ECR. News Release

Meridian Mining provided an update from the Cabaçal Project and its ongoing regional and near mine exploration programs in Brazil. As a result of the ongoing digitisation and georeferencing of historical BP data, the most significant copper anomaly within the Cabaçal tenements "Alvorada" has been uncovered from these archives. Its peak copper stream threshold value of 164ppm Cu surpasses the original copper anomalies of Cabaçal at 56ppm Cu and Santa Helena with 36ppm Cu. With BP's 1980's exploration focus on gold, and Alvorada having no associated gold anomaly, it was not followed up at the time despite its high copper content. Upon the grant of the licence and permitting, the Company plans the first geochemical and geophysical programs at Alvorada since its discovery, to build a geological model to target the future and first drill campaign over this highly prospective copper trend. Meridian Mining trades on the TSX with MNO and on the OTCQB with MRRDF. News Release

Calibre Mining updated its mineral Resources and Reserves for its Nicaragua and Nevada properties which featured a 16% increase in the Nicaraguan Reserve grade to 5.37 g/t gold from 4.62 g/t as reserves grew 278% to 1.1Moz, net of depletion since acquisition in 2019. Panteon North, discovered in May 2022, has a Maiden Mineral Reserve of 244,000oz at 9.45 g/t. IN Nevada, Calibre reported a 23% increase in pit-constrained Pan Mine Reserves to 234,000oz, net of depletion; and a 12% increase in Pan Measured and Indicated Resource to 359,000oz. The company plans 60,000m of drilling in Nicaragua this year and 40,000m in Nevada. Calibre Mining (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) News release

Hecla Mining reported the highest silver reserves in its more than 130-year history as they increased to more than 240Moz with the addition of Keno Hill’s almost 50Moz, which it acquired from Alexco last year. Gold reserves fell 6% due to a higher cut-off grade at Casa Berardi reflecting rising costs. The company used $17/oz silver, $1,600/oz gold, $1.15/lb zinc, and $0.90/lb lead, unchanged from 2021, as its metal price assumptions. It said that over the past 15 years, it has replaced 213Moz mined and now has almost five times the reserves it had at the start of 2008, representing more than 400Moz of discovered silver. Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) news release

Yesterday, Vizsla Silver reported drill results from 19 new holes targeting the Copala structure at its Panuco silver-gold project in Sinaloa, Mexico. The reported results represent both step-out and infill drilling, effectively expanding the Copala mineralized footprint beyond the 2023 updated resource boundary and as well as further demonstrating high-grade precious metal continuity. Highlights included 6m grading 892g/) silver equivalent in hole 225 including and 1.21m grading 2,271g/t, 2.5m grading 1,920g/t in hole 220 including 44cm grading 7,505g/t. The company said the tightly spaced drilling continues to de-risk Copala, while incremental step-outs highlight the expansion/discovery potential in the district. Vizsla has three of its seven drill rigs targeting Copala. Vizsla Silver (TSXV: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) news release

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