Canada’s Northwest Territories is well known for its vast gold deposits which are largely hosted in quartz veins in Archean volcanic rocks, including the Yellowknife Greenstone Belt.
Rover Metals Corp. (
TSX-V:ROVR,
OTC:ROVMF,
Forum) is a natural resource exploration company focused on gold exploration at its two Northwest Territory gold projects. In particular, Rover Metals is mostly focused on its 100% owned Cabin Gold Project, which is a 1,500-hectare property located roughly 110 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife.
The Cabin Gold Project has a rich history, having first been prospected back in 1936 and has a historical mineral resource estimate of approximately 85,000 ounces gold. Last fall, Rover Metals began a fall exploration program at the property, which was the initial step towards confirming and expanding upon the historical gold resource estimate and completing an NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate.
Some of the fall 2020 highlights included drilling on the singular Arrow Zone, the discovery of a high-grade gold ore shoot at the Arrow Zone which extends 140 metres at surface. Finally, drill hole CL-20-08 reported 31.9 metres of continuous high grade gold mineralization, averaging 13.66 g/t gold.
In short, the company has had its hands full with the Cabin Gold Project and, as we move into the summer months, that trend is expected to continue. Case in point, Rover Metals is in the midst of a summer drill program and has just released drill results.
On the heels of the announcement, Stockhouse Editorial had the opportunity to catch up with Rover Metals CEO Judson Culter to discuss the results and what investors can expect from the company moving forward.
SH: Can you provide us with a quick overview of how the summer drilling program has been progressing and what these results mean for the company?
JC: The first hole of our 2021 drill program was a 400 meter step-out hole from the discovery “Arrow Zone” (formerly Cabin Lake Zone) that was made in Q4-2020. It’s still early in the program, but our first batch of assays from this first hole have reported 3.4 meters (true width) of 5.71 g/t Au. We’re still waiting on over 10 meters of assays from this first hole. Given the historic nature of the Beaver Zone, where our first hole was located, I think it’s very fortunate for us to hit high-grade gold on our first hole. There’s been no drilling in the Beaver Zone for over 40 years.
SH: Now that some results have been released, when can we anticipate next results and the conclusion of the drilling program?
JC: We will be drilling into mid-August. That’s also when I expect the results from the first holes of our summer program to be available.
SH: At a broader scale, what drew the company to exploration in the Northwest Territories?
JC: Within a 130km
2 of our projects, there are reported inferred (or better) gold resources of 7,200,000 ounces held by our neighbouring junior miners.
SH: With other companies in the space and in the Northwest Territories, what makes Rover Metals stand out from its competitors?
JC: We are the earliest stage company in the area. We remain the most undervalued company as we are working to bring our first 43-101 inferred resource to market by end of H1-2022.
SH: At the end of June, the company also announced the closing of its first financing totaling just over $2.4 million. Can you touch on the financing and what these funds will be used for?
JC: In Q1 and Q2 of 2021, we have raised as total of $3.5MM. These funds are being used for exploration at the Cabin Gold project. We have one existing at surface gold Ore Shoot (open at depth) now defined at the Arrow Zone. We’re now looking for a secondary high-grade at surface zone on the property.
SH: Moving ahead into the rest of the year, what other milestones can investors watch out for?
JC: In Q1-2022 we intend to drill all of our high-grade at surface zones at depth, including the Arrow Zone discovery, from Q4-2020, which reported 32 meters of 13.66 g/t Au. The Q1-2022 program will be key to helping us bring a gold resource to market in H1-2022.
SH: This year continues to be a strong year for gold as it hovers near the US$1,800 per ounce mark. What are your expectations on the market going forward?
JC: Google search the price forecast for gold. My last search says over USD2,300 per ounce by 2023.
SH: Is there anything else I’ve missed that you’d like to touch on?
JC: I encourage readers to research the life cycle of a mining company investment. We remain on of the best buys in the market right now. The Bugow Iron Formation hosts the gold at our Cabin Gold project. The iron formation is over 15km in surface length. We’re still just scratching the surface of the gold potential at this project. In iron formations, it’s typical for the highest grade gold to be in the nose hinges. The Arrow Zone discovery is not in the hinges. So there remains plenty of blue sky on this project.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.