If you’re not a professional rock kicker – a geologist – how do you know when a company makes a truly significant gold discovery?
Not all discoveries are created equally. Here’s one clue…
First, it was the East Coast, with Sokoman Iron (SIC.V) hitting high-grade gold at their Moosehead Gold Project in Central Newfoundland. Now it’s the West Coast’s turn.
Aben Resources Ltd (ABN.V) just dropped a stunner of a drill hit. Note the market’s reaction in the above chart. There’s nothing like a big ass’d GAP to ignite the interest of a whole universe of traders’ and speculators’ alike.
Interesting observation: when a company announces assay results from drill core and said company chooses to put actual assay NUMBERS into the headline, it’s a hint that the details warrant a closer look. Not always the case, but it often rings true…
The Headline. The Discovery. The Numbers…
These are some terrific assays. The fact that there are multiple high-grade zones within this interval isn’t lost on me. The mineralized intercepts begin at 61 meters and end at 186 meters.
Highlights of discovery hole FK18-10:
- Four separate high-grade zones intersected in first drill hole FK18-10 all within 190 metres downhole at recently discovered North Boundary Zone.
- Highest-grade zone consists of 331.0 g/t (grams/tonne) gold (Au) (9.65 oz/t) over 1.0 metre (m) within broad zone averaging 38.7 g/t Au (1.12 oz/t) over 10.0m from 114.0-124.0m including 62.4 g/t Au over 6.0m (true thicknesses undetermined).
- Additional high-grade zones in Hole FK18-10 include 22.0 g/t Au, 22.4 g/t silver (Ag) over 4.0m; 3.9 g/t Au, 4.0 g/t Ag over 13.0m; and 8.2 g/t Au, 1.4 g/t Ag over 6.0m.
- This new discovery is part of the Boundary North Zone and is 230m north of the historic high-grade drill hole drilled by Noranda in 1991.
- Plans to expand the drill program are being put in place and assays are pending for seven more drill holes.
A little background on the company is necessary in order to fully appreciate the significance of this news.
The People. The Property. The Location. The Geology…
The above discovery was made at ABEN’s North Boundary Zone on its Forrest Kerr Property in BC’s Golden Triangle.
The crossed pick-ax symbols on the above claims map represent major deposits. As you can plainly see, this is elephant country.
ABEN’s property boundary is in yellow. Note its close proximity to the historic Eskay Creek deposit. A deposit that, back in the day, lit up the Vancouver Stock Exchange like the 4th of July.
Truth be told, Eskay Creek was this author’s very first exposure to the junior mining sector – it kinda made an impression on me. It kinda changed my life.
Speaking of Eskay Creek, ABEN’s Chairman and Director is nonother than Ronald Netolitzky, M.Sc. Geology…
Mr. Netolitzky has been very successful in mining exploration with over 35 years of experience and having been directly associated with three major gold discoveries in Canada that have subsequently been put into production; Eskay Creek, Snip and Brewery Creek.
Netolitzky is the man you want running a show like this. He knows the Golden Triangle’s complex geology like no one else. These high elevation, seasonally restricted projects are not cheap to explore either. Netolitzky won’t be messing around. Every dollar spent on this drilling campaign will be laid down with the greatest care and underlying efficiency.
The Geology…
Forrest Kerr’s property-wide alteration demonstrates a robust hydrothermal system (a system where superheated, potentially mineral-laden solutions circulated through the rock precipitating solids forming mineral deposits along the way) .
Netolitzky on the structural setting…
The presence of multiple mineralized zones associated with mesothermal veining and adjacent to major structural breaks is very encouraging. Close proximity to infrastructure will facilitate ongoing exploration.
Back to the discovery hole…
It’s important to note that this new discovery is 230 meters north of a historic high-grade drill hole – .5 meters of 326 g/t Au – drilled by Noranda in 1991 (see drill hole RG91-16 on the map below).
It’s also worth noting that Hole FK18-10 was drilled from a location 35 metres northwest of the drill pad which delivered discovery holes FK17-04, 05 and 06. These holes were drilled late in the season last year (see map below).
It’s now a matter of connecting the dots, a matter of tying in these earlier holes with the new discovery, establishing continuity in the mineralization. This is how you build tonnage, this is how gold deposits are made.
Commenting on the discovery hole (FK18-10), President and CEO Jim Pettit stated…
The high-grade gold and base metal values in the first hole of the 2018 drill program have far exceeded our expectations and confirm the presence of a robust and strong mineralizing system at the recently discovered North Boundary Zone. We are now looking at an area that extends 230m south to the historic high-grade Noranda drill hole from 1991 and although the geology is complex we believe more drilling will delineate additional high-grade mineralization. The target areas in and around the Boundary Zone are relatively shallow and continue to provide strong discovery potential as we look to value-add the project using a systematic exploration methodology. With drilling ongoing, the Company is awaiting assay results from an additional seven drill holes, all of which were drilled at the North Boundary Zone and will provide updates as results become available.
These are early days for ABEN. The window to continue drilling in the Golden Triangle is open for another two and a half months. Ample time to continue probing the subsurface with the drill bit.
The company appears to be onto something, perhaps something very significant. While the weather is good, the company is planning to ramp things up by expanding the current drill program. This is where things could get interesting. Accelerating a program is indicative of management’s enthusiasm… excitement.
Final Thoughts…
Perusing some of the online chat boards, those digesting today’s news, I couldn’t help but notice the inevitable comparisons being made between Sokoman and ABEN (Sikoman hit 11.90 meters @ 44.96 g/t Au versus ABEN’s 62.4 g/t Gold over 6.0 meters within 38.7 g/t Gold over 10.0 meters). Both are significant hits.
What I admire about ABEN’s discovery is that there are two nice intercepts at a shallower depth – above – the main headline number, including 1 meter of 38.4 g/t Au and another 1 meter interval of 87.3 g/t Au. This is highly significant.
It remains to be seen whether or not ABEN can go on a rip-roaring multiple session tear like SIC managed recently.
SIC’s Newfoundland based discovery took the market by complete surprise. The market wasn’t expecting such a high-grade hit out of Moosehead. ABEN’s discovery in BC’s prolific Golden Triangle might come as less of a shock (it was named the Golden Triangle for good reason).
For sure, the company’s share price action thus far is indicative of a market that understands the significance of this new discovery.
ABEN has 81.5 million shares outstanding giving it a current market-cap of approximately $23.6 million. That’s a fairly modest valuation for what ABEN may ultimately have at Forrest Kerr. Management, as touched upon earlier, is first rate.
With seven more drill holes pending and an expanded drill program planned for the remainder of the season, ABEN could put on a really big shoe in the days ahead (Ed Sullivan voice).
END
~ ~ Dirk Diggler
Postcript: Equity Guru’s Lukas Kane delivered an informative piece on the company back in June. A quote from that article…
But our eyes swiveled immediately to Forrest Kerr Gold Project (the Rolls Royce) – and now we can’t get this little beauty off our minds.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Aben Resources Ltd is an Equity Guru client. The author does not own stock in the company. Not yet.