Good Report on SICHOMERESOURCESCENTRAL NEWFOUNDLAND GOLD BELT BECOMING MAJOR GOLD CAMP Area PlayColumnsGoldResources Central Newfoundland Gold Belt becoming major gold camp 6 days ago Resource World Share this article The Canadian Maritime province of Newfoundland and Labrador has caught the eye of both resource stock investors and explorers, in particular, gold discoveries on the Island of Newfoundland. The Newfoundland gold play is focused on a large southwest to northeast-trending region known as the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt (CNGB) that stretches almost across the entire island, almost 250 km in length, where a claim staking rush has been taking place. This isnt to say that gold is not found elsewhere on the island. There has been gold mining in Newfoundland for many years. On the Baie Verte Peninsula on the north coast, there was the Rambler Mine and a few other companies that mined narrow, high-grade veins. The current major player in the CNGB with the most advanced project is Marathon Golds Valentine Gold Project, a large tonnage, open pit project. Over the past 10 years, Marathon Golds success has opened peoples eyes to the potential for Newfoundland and the Maritimes in general to host large scale gold deposits, said Matt Manson President and CEO. Considering the success of Marathon and more recently Sokoman Minerals and New Found Gold Manson considers the entire Central Newfoundland Gold Belt prospective. Because the area of central Newfoundland was dominated by base metal mining for so many years such as the long-life Buchans Mine, a lot of the historical exploration was for base metals back in the 1980s, said Manson. Looking at the perspective of large, open pittable gold deposits, thats relatively new. When Noranda drilled some years, ago, they didnt have the modern perspective that we have now. The new geological model has certainly borne fruit. Being in the North Atlantic region, Newfoundlands weather is highly variable it can snow one day and rain the next however, exploration and mining can be carried out all year round except for ground-based prospecting when there is snow cover. Mining is one of Newfoundland and Labradors largest and oldest industries, and a major contributor to the economy of the province. More than fifteen mineral commodities have been produced or mined in the province. With the provinces economy being resource-based for many years, the provincial government has the reputation of supporting responsible resource development. The Newfoundland and Labrador government as well as the provinces communities are familiar with exploration and mining and are on board when things are done in a socially acceptable manner, resulting in the province becoming one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. The current exploration activity in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt presents a solid opportunity for mining stock investors. This gold play has legs and a long way to go as the camp develops. Marathon Gold Corp. [MOZ-TSX; MGDPF-OTCQX] has a 100% interest in the advanced-stage Valentine Gold Project located 55 km south of Buchans, west-central Newfoundland. The project is situated in the heart of the emerging southwest to northeast-trending Central Newfoundland Gold Belt. Based on the Prefeasibility Study released in April, 2020 the project is expected to have substantial economic benefits for both Newfoundland and Canada during 15 years of construction, operation and rehabilitation. The open pit project is the largest undeveloped gold resource in Atlantic Canada. The Prefeasibility Study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation over a 12-year mine life with a 36% after-tax Internal Rate of Return using a US$1,350/oz gold price assumption. The project has estimated Proven Reserves of 1.3 million oz (26.3 Mt at 1.52 g/t gold) and Probable Reserves of 600,000 oz (14.8 Mt t at 1.23 g/t gold). Total Measured Resources (inclusive of reserves) comprise 1.9 million oz (31.7 Mt t at 1.86 g/t gold) with Indicated Resources (inclusive of the mineral reserves) of 1.19 million oz (23.2 Mt t at 1.60 g/t). Additional Inferred Resources stand at 960,000 oz (16.77 Mt t at 1.78 g/t gold). The April PFS showed a 12-year mine life at a production rate of 175,000 ounces of gold annually in years 1 to 9. After-tax IRR is 36% with a NPV5% of $472 million at an All-In Sustaining Cost of US$739/oz. With a relatively modest Capex of $272 million, Marathon Gold management is of the view they wont need to bring in a senior partner. Matt Manson, President and CEO of Marathon Gold Corp., said, With a combination of debt and equity financing, we can take on the Capex funding requirements ourselves. The companys strategy is to build and operate the mine themselves. Being a possible takeover target, if Marathon receives a compelling offer, they would take it to shareholders for acceptance or rejection. The project comprises a series of four mineralized deposits along a 20-kilometre shear zone-hosted mineralized system. A 44,000-metre, $9.7 million drilling program is planned to test the prospective gold targets along the trend where current drilling is testing a 6-km stretch between the Leprechaun and Marathon deposits. The company considers exploration to be an important part of their story. As such, an 8,000-metre infill drilling program is testing the Berry Zone where recent drill results have included 3.3 g/t gold over 120 metres, 1.47 g/t gold over 111 metres and 2.61 g/t gold over 85 metres. Marathon recently filed its environmental impact statement (EIS) that assesses the potential environmental and social effects of the project in 15 separate areas of study, including water and air quality, wildlife, vegetation and wetlands, fish and fish habitat, communities, indigenous groups, and the regional and provincial economies. A Feasibility Study is ongoing. There are two different access roads to the Valentine Gold Project and a power line will be built by the local utility, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, along with the appropriate transformers to run the 30 kilometres from the Hydro substation to the mine site. The project will generate substantial economic benefits (utilizing a gold price assumption of US$1,350/oz), including creation of over 19,000 person years of total employment in Canada (direct, indirect and induced), including approximately 11,000 person-years in Newfoundland and an average annual employment of nearly 1,300 person-years of employment in Canada, including an annual average of 725 person-years within Newfoundland. The Valentine Gold Project will generate approximately $1.3-billion in income to workers and businesses within Canada, including $750-million to workers and businesses located within Newfoundland and contribute $3.6-billion to Canadas gross domestic product (GDP), which includes $2.9-billion to Newfoundlands gross domestic product. Federal government revenues will be about $292-million with some $400 million to the treasury of Newfoundland. Marathon gold has 207,925,419 shares outstanding and approximately $54 million in its treasury. The companys Valentine Gold Project is the anchor in the Newfoundland gold play. Its success has spurred a number of other gold explorers to participate in this fast-developing important gold camp in a world-leading mining jurisdiction. Sokoman Minerals Corp. [SIC-TSXV; SICNF-OTCQB] is currently conducting a Phase 6, 10,000-metre, diamond drilling program at its flagship Moosehead gold project in Newfoundland. The 100%-owned Moosehead Project is located along the Trans-Canada Highway in north-central Newfoundland, on the same trend as the advanced Valentine Lake Project (Marathon Gold), and adjacent to New Found Golds Queensway Project. Tim Froude, President and CEO, said, While we will be testing several concepts, the program will have a strong focus on the Eastern Trend, including the down-dip and along-strike extensions. Plans include testing of the 400-metre vertical level along a 200-metre section of the interpreted Eastern Trend structure, with holes also testing for high-grade mineralization at the 250, 300 and 350-metre levels. Its time to test this system at depth, and we have sufficient funding to do that. At the Moosehead Project, Sokoman is targeting high-grade, turbidite-hosted, Australian Fosterville-type gold mineralization. Since acquiring the project in 2018, Sokoman has consistently produced outstanding drill results including the following Eastern Trend highlights from the five Phases completed to date: Phase 1 MH-18-01: 11.90 metres of 44.96 g/t gold, including 5.65 metres of 93.56 g/t gold. Phase 2 MH-18-39: 5.10 metres of 124.20 g/t gold, including 1.10 metres of 550.30 g/t gold. Phase 3 MH-19-62: 7.20 metres of 22.35 g/t gold, including 4.80 metres of 33.59 g/t gold. Phase 4 MH-19-81: 6.40 metres of 17.34 g/t gold, including 1.45 metres of 75.50 g/t gold. Phase 5 MH-20-86: 5.20 metres of16.85 g/t gold, including 1.35 metres of 61.11 g/t gold. Reported lengths are core lengths believed to be 70% 90% of true thicknesses. Recent prospecting at South Pond, 400 metres along strike to the southwest of Eastern Trend has located a cluster of angular quartz float with high-grade grab samples ranging from 0.318 to 157.04 g/t gold and silver values up to 36.2 g/t. Several holes will be testing for the down-dip extension of the Western Trend, as well as select reconnaissance holes testing high-priority geochemical targets elsewhere on the property including South Pond. Mineralization has been defined over a 500-metre strike length and a 200-metre vertical height and remains open for expansion. The Moosehead Project features year-round road access, abundant internal and logging roads, a one-hour drive to an assay lab and a provincial power sub-station 4 km to the west. Sokoman also has a 100% interest in an early-stage antimony/gold project in Newfoundland recently optioned to White Metal Resources Inc. In Labrador, the company has a 100% interest in the Iron Horse (Fe) Project. Sokoman Minerals has 123.2 million shares outstanding and was named 2019 Explorer of the Year by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Newfoundland and Labrador Branch. With its numerous high-grade gold assays, Sokoman is one of the reasons there has been a claim staking rush in central Newfoundland. Clearly, the company is on track for defining a robust and extensive gold mineralizing system at its Moosehead Project.