Galleon’s West Cache Sitting on 1.5m oz. and Still 90% Untested

by Kevin Vincent

Patience. It’s the central theme as investors wait for Galleon Gold to become the Timmins mining camp’s next gold producer.
The company outlined its plans for 2024 as Galleon embarks upon its advanced exploration activities at its flagship West Cache Gold Project in Timmins.
“From a capital markets perspective 2023 was a challenging year for the junior mining sector, and while Galleon Gold was not immune to the malaise, we were able to monetize non-core assets and continue the important work required for permitting,” said David Russell, President and CEO.
“As a result, we limited shareholder dilution and are entering 2024 with our strategic plan to systematically de-risk West Cache on track - starting with an 86,500-tonne bulk sample of the high-grade Zone #9 mineralized material.”
Russell says Galleon has strong economics on the project including a data base of 1.56 million ounces with over 525 core holes drilled about 250,000 meters of core and we have a large land position.”
Russell told a Red Cloud investment conference in early March that the company is highly undervalued.
“We jump up and down in share price like everybody else. Are we undervalued? Yeah, we’re a hell of a buy. We’re so far underwater we got to hire Jacques Cousteau to get us up to the surface. Eric Sprott came in early. He helped me set the company up three years ago. He put the first $3 million in like he does seeding companies and he’s played in most of the equity issues. The management team’s about 3% - we didn’t vend anything in, so we buy in every issue that we do - so we put our money where our mouth is.”
The company has completed the work required for its Closure Plan application, Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECA), and the Permit to Take Water (PTTW). Investors and stakeholders can expect regular updates as the permits are issued.

Metallurgical Study

Galleon has contracted SGS Canada to conduct additional metallurgical studies in preparation for discussions with local mills and financiers. The original study performed in 2021 indicated strong gold recoveries (up to 97%) from gravity, flotation, and whole ore cyanidation testing on Zone #9 gold mineralization. The current work will be conducted on a new sample from three holes in or near the planned bulk sample stopes grading approximately 8.25 g/t Au; the composite sample is representative of the material to be mined from the exploration bulk sample.

Bulk Sample

The imminent bulk sample has been designed for approximately 86,500 tonnes grading 8.13 g/t gold and containing an estimated 22,600 ounces of gold (prior to recoveries). The mine plan has been developed for single panel transverse longhole stoping based on a two-production level and four stope plan. In total, 2,525 meters of underground development has been designed for the bulk sample access and extraction.

Exploration

Less than 10% of the project has been drill tested. The Company intends to continue its grassroots exploration of new targets from surface and eventually from underground. Geologic interpretation, modelling, and targeting work is ongoing using recent and historic VTEMTM and soil geochemistry surveys, which indicate prospective mineralized trends to the north and south of the known resource areas.

 

Galleon’s new permit increases the exploration area to approximately 3,200 hectares

 

Russell says he expects to select a custom-milling partner soon for the bulk sample.
“Everything takes place at a custom mill. When will we negotiate the custom Mill agreement? There’s quite a few mills in town. Newmont’s one of them, Bell Creek’s got one, Redstone’s got one, Glencore guys have one. We haven’t picked one yet. We will once I have a permit and I know the exact timeline.”
On March 27, 2024 Galleon announced it has received a new Exploration Drilling Permit from the Ontario Ministry of Mines, Mineral Development Branch for its 100% owned West Cache Gold Project. The new permit increases the exploration area to approximately 3,200 hectares and covers the entirety of the Company’s Mining Lease No: 110033.
David Russell commented, “We have spent much of the last year focused on environmental studies, detailed engineering and permitting requirements for the upcoming bulk sample; but we have not lost sight of the vast exploration potential of the overall property package. While we have proven we can add ounces to the current resource with infill and step-out drilling along strike and at depth, we expect continued grassroots exploration will lead to new discoveries.”
Galleon Gold aims to initiate additional grassroots exploration programs to the north and south of the previously drilled areas. Interpretation of soil sampling and geophysical surveys indicate potential gold (± base metal) targets in the South Area and along litho-structural trends in Tisdale Metavolcanics to the north of Highway 101.
In addition to surface exploration, the Company intends to drill from underground during bulk sample development, targeting the strike-dip extension of Zone #9 and the South Areas, which are 100-meters to the south of the proposed bulk sample workings.
Underground investigation of Zone #9 may provide invaluable information on any structural controls, geochemical zoning, and alteration that could assist with identifying new gold zones elsewhere on the Property.

 

Galleon Gold's, President and CEO, David Russell will be a guest speaker at the Canadian Mining Expo, Projects in the Pipeline Conference. Register today to get your tickets before they sell out. Lunch is included. https://virtex.canadianminingexpo.com/expoactivity/activitypage/type/expoactivity_pipeline

 

To view this article and more on Northern Ontario's mining industry click on the link below:

https://issuu.com/canadiantradex/docs/ml_spring_2024_web?fr=sZGVjMzYzNjIyNDE

 

 

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