Tocvan Ventures Corp C.TOC

Has gold reached the bottom of its trading cycle?

[lifegoeson]

Another week of light trading for Tocvan Resources, closing at $0.495 on Friday with only 24,500 shares trading. The selling again this week largely came from one seller through the Anonymous trading house.

The downturn in gold has had its impact across the resource sector but when one looks at the trend over the last 10 years, gold is still very expensive.

Gold first broke above US $1,700 back in mid 2020, since then gold has made three attempts to breach the magic $2,000 barrier, before falling back each time. The pullback below $1,700 in 2022 was short lived with gold making another attempt to break the $2,000 barrier in mid 2023. I believe gold is well within its trading cycle since 2020.

The reason why gold fluctuates is complicated as there are many factors that contribute to its rise and fall. Increasing Interest rates, inflation, bond yields, and rising personal debt have certainly contributed to gold's volatility. However, countries like China and India have been purchasing gold at a record pace and showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. I suspect the forces of supply and demand will eventually result in gold prices rising soon. Also, gold is a good thing to own in times of uncertainty such as during wars and disruption of Global trade markets.

Tocvan released an update late yesterday to reassure shareholders that everything is proceeding as planned.  Here are the highlights from the press release.

• Due Diligence Complete on Pilar Expansion (a definitive purchase agreement is being finalized)
• High Priority Target Areas with Historic Workings and Silicified Breccias have been Identified for drilling
• Assay Results Pending from Surface Sampling
• Update Video with Brodie Sutherland, CEO: Tocvan Expansion Update and Targets

This is a great video to watch where Brodie provides an update on land acquisition and the identification of numerous drilling targets. As indicated in yesterday's press release, "due diligence including ground reconnaissance is complete for the land expansion acquisition surrounding Pilar and the Company is now finalizing a definitive agreement". 

This is very encouraging as the recent field program has recommended proceeding with a "definitive agreement", this will likely close very soon.

Further, "recent placer activity, historic workings, and prospective geology all indicate the area is highly prospective for gold and silver. Surface samples collected during due diligence of the area have been submitted for analysis, results are pending."

“We are already seeing excellent indications of a robust mineralized system beyond Pilar,” stated Brodie Sutherland, CEO. “The presence of pervasive hydrothermal alteration, silicified tourmaline breccias along with significant historic underground workings and years of active placer gold extraction are providing key indications that the area is prospective for drill targeting. Our priority is to advance these drill targets as quickly as possible to begin the evaluation of these areas and drive new discoveries.”

This new area is about 21 sq. km. and has the potential to result in new discoveries equivalent to, if not bigger than Pilar. The presence of years of active placer gold mining along the alluvial river beds is a sure indication that gold is abundantly present. The discovery of significant historic underground workings also confirms gold veins are exposed at the surface and have been followed at depth. Both alluvial gold and deeper underground gold systems suggest this new area will add significantly to the overall value of Pilar.

If you look at Figure 1 below, this clearly shows the extent of placer mining along river beds (these are the lighter areas that follow the stream beds). What I find interesting is that between the two large river bed systems, there is a strong altered Volcanic system. It is these types of systems that concentrate rich gold and silver deposits. It is widely accepted that gold found along these extensive river beds was washed down from these higher elevations.




Further in the press release there are very interesting pictures of intense silicified tourmaline breccias which are strongly correlated with the deposition of gold and silver. There is also a picture of one of the many historic underground workings that have been found along prominent mineralized structures. One can only imagine stumbling upon a large vein of quartz and tourmaline breccia loaded with gold and silver. Then digging a mine shaft as you follow the vein deeper into the mountain. It was the top of these exposed veins that were eroded and washed down to river beds.

Just imagine how many of these structures have been covered over by weathering and time - finding the "source of gold and silver" can lead to significant discoveries.

The picture below shows the recently identified target areas and their distance from Pilar. You will notice a very high concentration of targets located 1 to 2 km from the main Pilar zone and several targets within 2-5 kms. These targets certainly have the potential to greatly increase the resource already at Pilar.




It is important to keep in perspective that thinly traded stocks like Tocvan, with only 40 M shares outstanding, can be influenced by a few sellers and low volume. The opposite is also true, thinly traded stocks can move quickly higher on light volumes, and also make significant upward moves on higher volumes. So I wouldn't read too much into the tea leaves about what is causing the price of Tocvan to drift slowly downward. Markets will continue to cycle up and down, like the tide but upon a much longer time frame.