Tocvan closed Friday at $0.495 on 54,600 shares and traded only 141,000 shares for the entire week. Low volumes and slight pullbacks in price are indicative of the quiet times of summer. In my experience, there will always be sellers who get impatient, this doesn't mean that anything has changed for Tocvan, but rather instead, I think the value proposition has actually become stronger.
Here is a short youtube video this week from Brodie Sutherland where he provides an update on the path forward to production for Pilar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P53SWFsPgCA
Tocvan has also updated their corporate presentation (link below), of special note, Tocvan intends to start a pilot-test mine with small scale production in the first quarter (QTR) of 2005. This updated presentation is a must review by anyone who is a shareholder.
https://tocvan.com/home/corporate-presentation/
As I have said before, permits for test production can be obtained relatively quickly, within months, and could produce cash flow to fund future development. It appears Brodie is confident from previous detailed drilling (23,000 meters in the Main Zone of Pilar), 1,400 ton bulk sample, and leach and recovery studies, that production can begin without a resource estimate. Remember mineralization is robust in the Main Zone and starts at the surface as 1.9 g/t au head grades in the bulk sample that were measured came from 4 surface trenches (generally surface to 10 feet in depth).
Also, a Maiden Resource Estimate anticipated in Q4 of 2024 is only a few short months away. In my opinion, this is a critical step in de-risking Pilar as a potential large-scale producer. It also has the added benefit of potentially attracting other "Majors" interested in expanding their production capabilities. It is not a question of whether we are going to production, but do we get a better price by being acquired? Shareholders are going to be happy either way Tocvan proceeds in my opinion.
And let's not forget, a "Major" has already spent considerable time and money on the ground investigating the expanded Pilar property, which is 20X the size of the original Pilar. All of this tells me we are moving in the right direction.
Getting excited yet?
There is an excellent section in this new presentation which highlights Regional Comparables, such as Minera Alamos (AIM) and Alamos Gold (AMI). You can rapidly see where Tocvan is heading. I believe at this stage of development, with only 51 M shares outstanding and heading to production in 2025, Tocvan is in an excellent position to command a premium share price in the market due to the much better market capitalization. I am not about to fool myself into thinking that we will remain with 51 M shares outstanding, however, given the stage of development thus far, Tocvan is in a unique position to have a very desirable share structure when they reach production.
Are you now excited!
I am not done quite yet, the "Blue Sky" potential in the much larger recently acquired area has the potential for a multi-million oz gold and silver deposit. All we need is more time.
It was a wild and crazy week in the markets, gold continues to push higher pressing near all time highs. The broader markets were under attack by traders and bad news from several companies. Intel for example lost over 26% of its value, suspended its dividend, and is cutting over 15,000 jobs. I'm not sure where this is all going to end, but clearly the markets have been pushed to dizzy heights over the last 10 plus years, trading multiples are too high, driven by greed and fuelled by instant information through limitless media outlets.
There is a phrase, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) which tends to drive speculators and inexperienced investors to buy rapidly in the market.
Are we due for a correction?
The Olympics continue with Summer McIntosh already winning two golds, and she swims again for a medal today.