Next StepsLooking back over the history of Goldstorm drilling, there are two areas where Mr. Konkin clearly excels. The first is demonstrating the consistency of the Goldstorm deposit in each domain. This has allowed for conversion of Inferred resources to M&I more efficiently based on wider drill hole spacing. The second is to maximize the impact of higher grade gold when he finds it.
Now that there is a pattern this year of higher grade gold pockets within a (relatively) defined section of the Goldstorm deposit, I believe we will see KK target those pockets very effectively and define them much more clearly next year. That might even be a more pressing goal than finally finding the limits of the Goldstorm system.
When you put those two areas of KK expertise together, what you get is more M&I high grade gold.
I know Tudor will produce a new resource estimate in 2023 before the full drilling impact of the higher grade gold will be included. My sense is that the new estimate will be obsolete shortly after it is published if we see continued high grade hits next year. Delineation of a high grade corridor with substantial depth and length will completely change the picture from a large, low grade open pit with the 300 Horizon as the primary asset, to a hybrid Brucejack mine plus the open pit.
I can't even begin to guess how that will impact my estimates of gold in the ground or the valuation of the Three Amigos. I know at this point I'm very comfortable with an estimate of 42.6 million oz in all categories, but I must wait for the full 2022 results before refining a number for the next resource estimate. There is an area of about .23 square km by about 300+m in mineralized depth that I'm not including yet pending how much more of that slice is drilled this year. So there is upside to my current data.
My previous long term outlook was for more than 52 million oz. by the end of 2024, but higher grade hits within the sections of Goldstorm that have already shown higher grades can just blow that guess out of the water.
On top of that, some of the recent holes have shown extensions in the H300 domain. That's been the money domain for me up to this point, so any expansion adds more $$ to my valuation of the companies. I am almost thinking in terms of Tudor redrawing the open pit further to the northeast and minimizing the component of the open pit resources from the Copper Belle deposit, which become less compelling as higher grades are found further away from it. If Eureka and Goldstorm are connected, one of the open pit boundaries could move in that direction as well.
Things I would love to see in the drilling next year include:
1 - Heaviest focus on the area of Goldstorm with the high grade gold
2 - Further aggressive stepouts to the northeast/northwest of Goldstorm.
3 - Exploration in the southernmost area of Perfect Storm where the highest grades have been found so far and where the Brucejack and Sulphurets faults intersect.
4 - Filling in the area between Goldstorm and Eureka since that will be shallow gold (unless gold continues below the TTF2 fault).
5 - Further development of Route 66.
The stated goal of the past few years to find the limits of Goldstorm I don't think is an achievable option any longer. I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. It's just too big of a system to drill off at 40,000m per year.
Longer term: Follow the Kyba Red Line up to the northern areas of Treaty Creek (let Eskay Mininng do more work to guide Tudor). Also, head out another 3km or so to the northeast and find the next pearl in the Sulphurets Thrust System "necklace."
As more of these annual plans are completed, the valuation of Treaty Creek will increase each year, sometimes by a lot. On a macro level, I'd almost rather wait until the current down cycle in gold (and the upcycle in the U. S. dollar) has run its course before trying to cash in on this asset. I want full value in an environment that shows a higher price of gold and more interest in investing in exploration stocks. This is just a bad time to sell out, but a great time to buy the stocks at these prices.
Do your own DD. GLTA. Doug