So we’ve been building this platform that I can’t talk about, but which takes every mining explorer out there and helps us discover companies that are under the radar and moving quickly. Stories largely untold. Projects largely forgotten. People doing the work.
You can’t see it, yet, but I can and today I stumbled upon something notable when using it.
Lincoln Gold Mining (LMG.V).
These guys aren’t promoting, they’re not out there waving their hands and making noise, and I LOVE THAT about them right now because the market cap is just $2.7 million – BUT they’re actively putting together a roster with two projects (one owned, the other in process of being owned) that I like a lot.
Here’s the tale of the tape:
PROJECT: Bell Mountain
- Metals: Gold, Silver
- Location: Churchill County, Nevada, USA
- Acres on Trend: The project consists of 180 claims, encompassing approximately 1,463 hectares.
- Exploration $: The project has undergone significant exploration including 279 drill holes and detailed NI 43-101 compliant assessments.
- Recent Work: An advanced stage project with a detailed mining plan for a cost-effective, open-pit heap leach operation.
- Compliant Resource Details:
- Measured and Indicated: 56,793 ounces of gold equivalent.
- Inferred: 30,271 ounces of gold equivalent.
- Feasibility Details:
- PEA Details: Not explicitly mentioned, but the project is described as fully permitted with near-term production plans, indicating advanced feasibility planning.
- Production Tonnage: The production goal for Bell Mountain, in conjunction with the Pine Grove project, is 20,000 – 50,000 ounces of gold equivalent per year over a mine life of 8-10 years.
Additional Insights:
- Operational Strategy: Bell Mountain is positioned as a near-term production project with minimal ore waste, a low stripping ratio of 0.7%, and good water supply, indicating readiness for initiating mining operations.
- Production Readiness: Bell Mountain is highlighted as their first project to reach production, ahead of their Pine Grove project, with production expected to commence by late 2024 or early 2025 according to the company’s timeline.
So that’s the project that’s getting attention right now, and giving LMG stock a nice steady increase in share price and volume.
They’re in the midst of a $750k raise, to get some work done and close that deal, but no more than that (at this price).
Bell Mountain comes to LMG for 4.5m shares of the company and a 7.5% net profits interest (NPI) (until $2m is recouped).
That’s a deal that gives buyer and seller upside, and I can respect that, because being THAT CLOSE TO PRODUCTION means the NPI might have some actual return.
Here’s the plan for the Bell Mtn property:
Bell Mountain is a beauty, but there’s also this, which is in Lincoln’s quiver already.
PROJECT #2 Pine Grove
- Metals: Gold
- Location: Lyon County, Nevada, USA
- Acres on Trend: Approximately 7 square miles encompassing the main gold mineralization, exploration targets, and mine facilities.
- Exploration $: Teck Resources drilled 190 holes, Lincoln drilled 85 since 2009, totalling 275 holes and 94k feet.
- Historic Holes/Permitted: 275 holes drilled in the district, with significant drilling activities in 2009 and 2010.
- Recent Work: Ongoing permitting studies, environmental assessments, and a planned prefeasibility study.
- Resource Details:
- Gold equivalent: 210,962 ozs measured and indicated with significant potential for resource expansion
- Feasibility Details:
- PEA Details: Issued and restated between 2011 and 2015, with resource estimates based on a gold price of US$1,425.
- Production Tonnage: Not specified.
- Project Origin: Historic gold production dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, with modern exploration initiated by Lincoln Gold Mining Inc. including acquiring and consolidating land and mineral rights.
While Bell Mountain is on a quick-to-production trajectory, Pine Grove was on that trajectory back in the day, until gold went a bit squishy.
Historic work on this project got all the way to a PEA – twice – and there’s been shiny stuff plucked out of it for much of the last century and a quarter, with only a quarter of the property even explored to date. They’ve got ten new drill targets and are waiting for permits to get at them, and they want to do that because it has one of the highest reserve grades in Nevada.
Now, if I look at any ten gold explorers picked at random, 8 of them don’t have PEAs on a property yet, so this group is way further along than what you’d expect from a $2m market cap.
Added to which:
Come on, guys, this is niiiiice.
One is super close to production, the other is a year further out but could be bigger, AND THERE’S ONLY 24M SHARES OUT fully diluted.
CONCLUSION:
Look, I know you’re all watching gold run and thinking what the play might be there. The answer is simple: Invest in production and near-term production.
At this price, LMG is a take out target and they don’t need to do much work to warrant a premium on any acquisition.
Folks say to back the jockey and not the horse – okay, these jockeys are straight miners.
But if you prefer the horse to the jockey, these horses are thoroughbreds that need to run.
NOT A CLIENT. Do your due diligence. All that jazz.
But we’re in.
— Chris Parry
FULL DISCLOSURE: No commercial arrangement, but we’re going to be buying on dips.