It was a busy day in the markets for Tocvan yesterday, closing at $0.37 on 175,000 shares, with Anon selling 166,000 shares. This was a similar trend for the entire week with Tocvan trading about 340,000 shares and Anon selling 291,000 of those shares.
I am not sure where the selling from Anon is coming from, but as my father often said in these situations, "let the impatient sell at the lowest price possible, they will finish at some point, and the stock will have been moved into the hands of stronger shareholders".
I have learned this lesson many times, there is no use reaching to buy stock when there is loose stock still coming into the market, I generally just sit on the bid and wait to see what shakes out. This will end at some point, and since Tocvan has only 43 Million shares outstanding, they will be in a stronger position going forward. Combine this with Colibri sharing the expenses to drill and bring Pilar to production, Tocvan will be able to advance Pilar at half the price.
The best part of this week is Tocvan has started an impressive drill program on its Pilar claim. They have outlined 7,000 meters ONLY within the Pilar concessions held with its minority partner Colibri Resources. I suspect more drilling will occur on the high value targets located on the newly acquired land once the drilling at Pilar is well underway. The following is a quote from this week's Press Release.
"...... Work completed has outlined 7,000 meters of drilling required within the Pilar concessions held along with minority partner, Colibri Resources. This includes 4,000 meters of infill drilling within known areas of mineralization and 3,000 meters of step-out and exploration drilling on the peripherals of drilled mineralization and/or strong surface geochemistry indicating highly prospective targets. All proposed drilling is fully permitted. The outcome of the proposed drilling will go into the definition of a maiden resource estimate for the Pilar Main Zone, providing an important building block for the Company. The first drill hole will follow-up on JES-22-62, which returned 108.6m of 0.8 g/t Au and 3 g/t Ag. The drill rig mobilized to site April 1st and began drilling hole JES-24-73 on April 2nd....."
Here is a link to a video of the drill rig in operation. It is apparent by the vertical angle that they have started infill drilling. I will also note that this is a newer mobile drill rig which will allow for more efficient and cost effective drilling since the rig can be positioned more quickly. It is my understanding, reverse circulation drill rigs can drill between 150 to 300 meters per day depending on the geology, thus delivering results more quickly. I will also add, the turnaround time is around 10 to 14 days at local laboratories.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1775556349155590569
This quote from Press Release dated 24-02-29 describes the relationship with the driller, drilling cost, and associated assay turnaround times.
"........ Sonora is one of the most cost-effective jurisdictions for exploration and development. The company estimates all-in drill costs to be $130 (U.S.) per metre which includes drilling, gold and multielement analysis, mobilization, geological and technical support. Assay laboratory turnaround is currently ranging from 10 to 14 days allowing for rapid reporting and progressive target development. The company has been working toward a long-term arrangement with a new Sonora-based drill company, Canmex Exploraciones y Servicios (CANMEX). The newly formed CANMEX is made up of management and operators with extensive experience in Sonora including several successful drill campaigns across the company's Pilar and Picacho projects. Owned and operated by longtime Tocvan supporters Leo Wurtz and Gerardo Martinez, CANMEX has at its disposal three RC rigs, five diamond core rigs and two truck-mounted water well rigs. All of this equipment can be utilized by the company during the next phases of exploration and development. The arrangement allows for cost-effective drilling to continue across both projects with a trusted local operator known for drilling excellence and environmental stewardship....."
I also encourage everyone to study the diagrams located on Tocvan's website, here is a link, go to the section on Pilar, then go to diagrams.
https://tocvan.com/home/pilar-project/
These diagrams clearly outline the discoveries at Pilar and the potential discoveries within the new land acquisition. There are more than 10 historic audits along 4-Trend and Pilar that have yet to be drill tested. Several of these adits were not previously known and only recently discovered due to trench sampling and building road infrastructure across the property, with likely more adits yet to be discovered.
Infill drilling has begun starting at JES-22-62 which was originally drilled at an angle to test as much of the geology as possible. It yielded an economic grade on average for 108 meters starting at the surface, with a couple of strong intersections, one of which yielded 9.4 meters of 7.6 g/t gold. The infill and step-out drill program will now systematically punch vertical holes to determine true depth and gold concentrations. Since gold generally starts at the surface, Pilar is perfect for the development of an open pit mine. Also note that the discoveries at Pilar are open at depth, so more significant pockets of gold could be discovered.
Infill and step-out drilling will ultimately determine the true extent of the resource at Pilar alone and allow for a resource calculation.
I am also very interested in learning about the results from the UAC lidar survey across both Pilar and the newly acquired expansion area. This will be instrumental in permitting and identifying future drill targets. I suspect this will be released once the Joint Venture Agreement details are worked out. Here is a quote from the Press Release dated 2023-10-26.
"....... Tocvan Ventures Corp. is starting the environmental permitting process at its Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, with the initiation of a detailed UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) lidar survey across Pilar and the newly acquired expansion area. The expansion area covers over 21.7 square kilometres with initial surface samples returning high-grade gold and silver values (5.6 grams per tonne Au and 106 g/t Ag) associated with intense hydrothermal altered volcanic rocks (see Oct. 19 news release). The lidar and surface imagery data will provide high-resolution (centimetre-scale) surface modelling that will be utilized for numerous initiatives, including the start of environmental permitting for mine development, advanced drill targeting and infrastructure planning......"
Lastly, everyone must be getting a little excited about the surge in gold price this week, constantly breaking new highs and now trading over $2,300 USD. There are many factors driving the price of gold higher, as gold is considered a safe haven during times of inflation, geopolitical tensions, supply and demand, and mining costs. What I find very interesting, not only are the big countries buying gold such as Russia, India, and China, among others, but it is now readily accessible by the average person, who can buy gold and silver at Costco on a Saturday morning while shopping.
It doesn't look like the run on gold is going to stop anytime soon. Yes, there will be ups and downs, but an overall higher price means the value proposition of Tocvan is stronger than before, leading to increased profits, or more likely the target of a takeover by one of the large gold processors in the area before they reach production.