Although the Canadian province of Newfoundland has had a long history of mining that began in the 1800s, the current ‘gold rush’ there started in 2021 with several high-grade drill results reported at New Found Gold Corp’s Queensway project.
According to the Canadian Mineral Exploration Information Bulletin, which is published by the Government of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador saw the third-largest exploration spending increase amongst provinces in 2022 in dollar terms (+$74 million), behind only Nunavut (+$118 million) and Ontario (+$93 million), as well as the third-largest yearly rise percentage terms (+44%).
At Queenway - one of the major prospects in the province - drilling during the past three years has continued to confirm the promise of the project. New Found Gold recently announced “near surface” assay results from its newly-discovered ‘Jackpot Zone’, which included 95.7 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 3.25 metres (m) beginning at a vertical depth of just 20m.
The $1 billion plus market cap company said its more than 110-kilometre long Queensway project is home to several high-grade gold discoveries and asserts the region’s Appleton and JBP faults are large features that compare in size to the world-renowned Abitibi gold belt.
Marathon Gold Corporation, meanwhile, is another notable player in the province, developing its 100% owned Valentine gold project with an estimated 4 million ounce measured and indicated resource, at an average grade of 1.9 g/t, and a 2.7 million ounce proven and probable reserve at an average grade of 1.62 g/t.
The company is expected to pour its first gold bar at Valentine during the first quarter of 2025, with estimated annual production of 195,000 gold ounces over the first 12 years at all-in-sustaining costs of about US$1,007 per ounce.
Not to be overlooked, however, are some key Newfoundland-focused exploration and development companies that could benefit from New Found Gold and Marathon Gold’s successes.
For example, Gander Gold Corp (CSE:GAND), majority owned by Sassy Gold Corp (CSE:SASY, OTCQB:SSYRF) and Eric Sprott, has a 2,259 square kilometre (km) land position in Newfoundland with its Gander North and Mt Peyton projects flanking New Found Gold’s Queensway project.
In May, the company began a 70-hole rotary air blast (RAB) drill program across four of its gold projects in the province, having most recently identified 14 high-priority target areas across its Gander North project, with some stretching up to 8 or 9 kms in length.
Falcon Gold Corp (TSX-V:FG, OTC:FGLDF) is another promising area play. The company formed a strategic partnership with Marvel Discovery Corp. (TSX-V:MARV) with the goal of exploring prospective claims recently acquired in the Hope Brook and Baie Verte Brompton districts.
The Hope Brook property covers extensions of, or is proximal to, two major structures linked to several significant gold prospects (Cape Ray; Matador Mining) and deposits (Hope Brook; First Mining) and hosts the past-producing Hope Brook Gold mine.
Included in Falcon Gold’s Newfoundland holdings is the Valentine Gold South project, 15,300 hectares contiguous to properties owned by Marvel Discovery, Matador Mining, and TRU Precious Metals Corp. (TSX-V:TRU, OTCQB:TRUIF) that also lies along strike from the Valentine gold deposit, which hosts 6.8 million ounces of gold and is currently under development.
Marvel Discovery Corp. (TSX-V:MARV) meanwhile, also owns the Victoria Lake Gold project, which is contiguous with Marathon Gold’s Valentine Lake deposit.
And, the company’s Slip project lies within a similar structural setting as the Queensway project, with exploration having uncovered surface mineralization with grab samples as high as 44.5 g/t gold.
All in all, these Newfoundland juniors will need to continue releasing promising results, which could put these explorers and developers firmly in the spotlight as exploration spending heats up in the province.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com