Graycliff Exploration (TSX-v: GRAY) / (OTC: GRYCF ) reported drill results for the highly anticipated Hole D-26 from its Shakespeare Project in NE Ontario. In addition, full assays on four subsequent holes J-62-26 through J-65-26 were announced.
Several more holes have been drilled and are being sent to the lab for analysis. The next set of results will not be out before December or January as the lab remains backed up. All five holes in today’s press release hit high grade gold (“Au“) at shallow depths of between 75 to 168 meters.
The best interval was in Hole J-62-26, 6.0 m of 115.25 g/t Au from 118 to 124 meters.
That’s quite shallow for a 692 {gram x meter} hole. This was an infill hole next to Hole A that had the monster 454 g/t over 7.0 m interval. In my view, the latest results, combined with prior holes, are quite remarkable given that Graycliff’s market cap is C$3M. From the press release, a quote from Dir. Bruce Durham.
“We’re encouraged by these very high-grade results as we continue to define the location, thickness & grade of this area of high, to ultra-high-grade gold close to, but largely below, historic mine workings. It’s worth noting that the extremely high-grade interval in Hole 62 is equal to more than 16 troy ounces per ton over one meter.”
Holes J-62-26 & J-63-26 were drilled on the same drill section as the four metallurgical holes (A, B, C, D) to provide more geological & assay data on that section. Holes J-64-26 & J-65-26 were drilled parallel to J-62-26 & J-63-26 on a section 12.5 m to the east to provide additional detail on the extent & grade of gold mineralization.
With multiple hits of shallow, high-to-very-high (Au only) over the years, not only is the deposit amenable to an open pit configuration, but also to bulk sample mining of 50,000-100,000 tonnes. More on that later…
As a reminder, this was the first drill program at Shakespeare since 1Q/23, building directly on the metallurgical assay results (holes A, B & C) announced in June/July.
Relatively few juniors enjoy a single 100+ gram-meter hit in their entire lifetimes, fewer still have over five. I believe that with today’s results, Graycliff Exploration has seven.
There’s been significant drilling over four prior phases (61 holes, over 12,900 m). Management states in its corporate presentation that ~62% of holes intersected Au mineralization, with 40% of those displaying visible gold.
This new (fourth) metallurgical hole, Hole D-26, was designed to sample material directly below Hole A, collecting additional representative core for initial “mineralogical, extraction, and concentration testing. Hole D-26 was targeted to test the down-dip extension of the main gold zone ~40 m down-dip of Hole A
Management is pleased with the high to very high grades, especially in Hole J-62-26, and also with the valuable information gained on geology, geometry, structure, etc. Graycliff has a strong team, especially for a company valued so cheaply.
Best drill results from a few years ago… Also quite good…
Director Bruce Durham was a key member of various exploration teams credited with the discovery of significant mineral deposits including the David Bell and Golden Giant gold mines in Hemlo, Ontario and the Redstone Nickel and Bell Creek gold mines in Timmins.
Mr. Durham also worked with two of Canadian mining’s most iconic figures, promoter Murray Pezim and Hemlo prospector Don McKinnon. Working with director James Macintosh, also a geologist, Durham is focused on finding high-grade Au, near surface, across an identified, promising, 6 km horizon at the past-producing Shakespeare mine.
Shakespeare is 88 km west of Sudbury on the Canadian Shield. It operated from 1903 to 1907, producing ~3,000 troy ounces from six underground stopes. The current project has been expanded to 1,366 hectares.
The surrounding infrastructure is important to note. See the following image, this is NOT a remote project. Access to these critical resources keeps exploration costs relatively low.
Although not in a major camp like Timmins or Hemlo, I’m intrigued with past production from 120 years ago. Back then, only high-grade ore (by today’s standards) would have been mined.
The historic mine was not large, but not tiny either. It was developed on five levels, had a ~100 meter vertical shaft, adits, over 600 meters of tunneling.
The board considers to pursue the idea of possibly doing a bulk sample. Management believes that if it could pull good grades of say 8-10 g/t, a 50-100k tonne sample could deliver meaningful net cash flow given that Au is at $4,130/oz.
In speaking with Mr. Durham, he believes there are several mills within trucking distance of up to a few 100 kms that could potentially take Shakespeare’s high-grade ore. The following mills are examples of what’s in the region. He said, “Not all would be interested in toll milling Shakespeare’s ore, but all we need is one.”
It wouldn’t take that many ounces to move the needle on a C$3M company. Note, executing on a bulk sample program would take a lot of work, and a few years. Management believes multiple companies might be interested in funding a potentially profitable bulk sample initiative.
For example, Ocean Partners is backing junior mining companies across North America, helping to restart operations that were on care & maintenance, funding mills and other mining infrastructure, etc.
Companies like Ocean Partners provide debt facilities and sometimes invest in the equity of their partners.
Bottom line… Graycliff Exploration has a tiny market cap but giant drill holes, including one of the best in the world –> 7.0 m of 454 g/t Au. Today’s 6.0 m of 115.25 g/t Au is a top 5% hole as well. Almost every other junior reporting 500+ gram-meter holes have C$500M+ market caps!
Surrounding infrastructure is strong. Shakespeare is in the mining-friendly province of Ontario, in a very mining-friendly country. Should this company have a market cap of just C$3M?!? I think not.
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