GALLEON GOLD, THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME!

By Kevin Vincent
With the price of gold poised to hit new all-time highs, junior miners like Galleon Gold have high hopes for properties that sit in the heart of gold country. In this case, Galleon is staring at a perfect set of circumstances. They have a major shareholder, billionaire precious-metals advocate Eric Sprott; a gold-producing neighbour – Pan American Silver’s Lakeshore Mine in Timmins; an all-star team of geologists; solid investment support; and of course, the price of gold.
It all adds up to a recipe that suggests Galleon’s West Cache property, on the western fringe of gold-rich Timmins, Ontario – may very well be the area’s next open pit operation.
“We are fortunate to be fully funded for the addition of a second drill, we are looking forward to accelerating the program, and fleshing out the potential of Zone #9,” said R. David Russell, President and CEO of Galleon Gold. “To date, we have been able to predict the orientation and location of the structure and continue to be impressed by its continuity of grade and widths.”
In October, Galleon went to market and raised an additional $8 million, including a buy from Eric Sprott.
In November, the company added another drill to the property and by early December they were already releasing results.
In an online webinar with Timmins Chamber of Commerce members in October of last year, Russell made a comment that caught the attention of Timmins Mayor George Pirie. Russell said he was curious that the property’s previous owners had drilled down to and below the 800-metre level.
Pirie, the former President of Placer Dome Canada, and a lifelong Timmins resident, pointed out that the world-famous McIntyre Mine in Schumacher didn’t fully blossom into a big mine until they hit gold at the 1600 level.
If that turns out to be the case for Galleon, it might very well be a double win for the company. Galleon is exploring the property on the basis it will be an economic open pit mine on the south side of highway 101 and a potential underground mine on the north side.  
In the interim, the second drill rig is completing infill drilling of the contemplated East Pit area and related deeper extensions discussed in Galleon’s earlier news releases. “The latest results continue to confirm the continuity and grade of the mineralized shear zones from the bedrock interface to vertical depths of several hundred meters,” said the company.
Galleon says data from both Zone #9 and the infill pit areas will be included in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”), targeted to be published by early April 2021. Upon completion of the infill drill program, the second drill will shift to Zone #9 for additional exploration along strike and dip.
Galleon is an ex-nickel company, led by Russell, who approached Eric Sprott for backing to merge with Xplor Resources to become a gold company. That merger happened in January of 2020.
At the moment, Galleon’s data suggests the property has just over a million ounces of indicated and inferred gold.
The company has already initiated permitting applications to conduct a large bulk sample, and they are expecting their maiden PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
The property is not underexplored by any means. Close to 350 drill holes have been dipped into the property totalling more than 160,000 metres of core.
“We could double or triple the grade with the right drilling program,” Russell told the Chamber of Commerce.
When all the initial work is completed, Russell says the plan at the moment is making a decision by 2023 and building the mine between 2024 and 2025.
Russell speculated that the mine could create 150-200 jobs.
With Kirkland Lake Gold announcing in late 2020 that the company is moving its Canadian Operations Centre to Timmins, it raised the natural question of whether Galleon is in talks with KL Gold.
“Nope, not yet,” said Russell. “I think highly of Tony. Tony did one great job developing Lake Shore. “I’d rank him in the top ten of underground mining people, open pits too, but he understands underground mining a lot differently than a lot of people do and can make something very economic and that’s what he did at the Lakeshore Mine.”
Russell says he has high respect for Makuch. “I haven’t talked to him in a while, but don’t read anything into us and Kirkland Lake yet. But what I like to do is, I like to build projects.”
On Dec. 9th Galleon Gold provided an overview of the baseline studies and permitting plans that have been initiated at its 100% owned West Cache Gold Project, Timmins, Ontario “West Cache”.
Story Environmental Inc. (Story) in collaboration with Blue Heron Environmental have been engaged by the Company to conduct environmental baseline studies and assist with the permitting process. Commencing the process at this early stage will ensure that all critical path items required for the submission of a mine closure plan will be completed by the time the Company is ready to proceed with a bulk sample. Story has initiated the baseline water sampling program and established groundwater and hydrogeology monitoring sites. Additionally, geochemistry and initial archeological studies are also underway.
“Permitting a mining project is a multi-faceted process that requires a significant amount of time for planning, data collection and consultation. We are committed to advancing West Cache to production in a timely manner and are pleased with the progress and plans in place to ready the property for mining. We look forward to continuing to work with local First Nations, government agencies and all stakeholders to ensure a successful path to production” commented R. David Russell, President and CEO of Galleon Gold.

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