Idaho sprung to life in the wake of the 1861 discovery of gold in creeks and gulches around the Florence Basin near the newly created Oregon border. The ensuing gold rush produced over eight million ounces of the auric mineral between 1863 and 1965. However, after the easy finds had been picked, Idaho settled down to become the nation’s foremost silver producer. It would be interesting to note that even though Idaho is known today for the production of a wide range of “less-interesting” minerals, including antimony, lead and gems, the United States Bureau of Mines contends the potato state has more mineable gold than any other territory in the country. Now that gold is climbing to stratospheric values, junior explorers are flocking to historically mineral-rich locations such as Elk City, Boise Basin, Stibnite, Silver Valley and Salmon River to capitalize on the precious metal’s popularity. Speaking of which, Freeman Gold’s (FMAN.C) flagship Lemhi gold project is located near the banks of the Salmon River close to Revival Gold’s Beartrack-Arnett project as well as Barrick Gold and Agnico Eagle’s exploration efforts. The Lemhi gold project is made up of 99 unpatented claims and 11 patented claims with over 10,000 metres of historic drilling as well as non-compliant results of approximately 818,000 ounces gold indicated and 396,000 ounces gold inferred. The 7500-plus acre land package hosts much of its mineralization near surface, making the project ripe for open pit and heap leach operations. Freeman Gold’s expert management team boasts 70 years of combined industry experience in geology, resource development, capital markets, financing, permitting and mine construction. Will Randall, the company’s president, CEO and director, has put together an aggressive exploration program for 2020 to complete a maiden NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate at the property. Since peer comparables show a premium for U.S. based gold companies holding projects with 1.5 – 2 million-ounce resource estimates, Freeman Gold’s tight share structure has the potential for creating a brilliant investment opportunity.
