David D'Onofrio's White Gold Corp. (WGO) closed unchanged at 22 cents on 134,000 shares on word it has sold another 1.14 million regular shares at 22 cents apiece, raising $250,000. This follows news just before Christmas that the company had sold 8.06 million flow-through shares at 26 cents, 5.09 million critical-mineral flow-through shares at 27 cents each and 7.01 million regular shares at 22 cents.
That first tranche raked in $5.01-million and the latest sale brings the full tally to $5.26-million, meeting the updated target. A month ago, White Gold had been offering $4.5-million of shares, but Mr. D'Onofrio, CEO, said two weeks later that "strong interest and support of our exciting and impactful exploration activities in the White Gold district" had prompted him to boost the ask to $5.25-million.
And so, the cash raised will find its way to the company's advanced project, in the White Gold district of west-central Yukon. At last report, the company credited the project with 16.1 million tonnes indicated at 2.23 grams of gold per tonne and 19 million tonnes inferred at 1.54 grams per tonne, a total of 2.1 million ounces of gold. That estimate is approaching its second birthday, but keep your expectations modest nevertheless, as the project had 1.4 million ounces of gold defined 15 years ago, when it was being worked by Kinross Gold Corp. (K: $14.13).
Mr. D'Onofrio and his company acquired the key parts of the project from Kinross in 2017, issuing 17.5 million shares then valued at $2 apiece, paying $10-million in cash and agreeing to pay a further $15-million in stages, through feasibility and a construction decision. The deal was predictably deemed transformative, and indeed it was sufficient to transform what had been G4G Capital Corp. into White Gold Corp. Unfortunately, the Kinross transaction proved to be the high-water mark for the company's stock, which has been zigzagging its way to lower highs and lower lows for the past seven years.