Centenario Gold Corp. (CTG:TSX.V), which just went public at the beginning of the month, announced it is starting its first drilling campaign at its Eden project near Cosala, Mexico.
The company plans to drill 1,500 meters over 10 to 12 core holes in a portion of the Buenavista vein-breccia structure that returned assays as high as 239.9 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and 1,390 g/t silver (Ag) during surface and underground sampling.
Initial drilling at Eden is expected to last about 30 days, the company said. All logging and sampling will be done at a base camp in Tasajeras, about 30 kilometers from the project.
"The holes are designed to test the down dip extension of the vein-breccia structures along a 400-meter-long portion of the Buenavista corridor," Centenario said in a release. "Drill pads and access to the drill pads are all completed. The Mexican mining authorities have approved the drilling permit, and local community permits and agreements are in good standing."
"We are targeting yet another doubling of our mineral resource," Prime Executive Vice President of Exploration Scott Smith said. "Since the MRE year-end drilling cut-off, we have already drilled an additional 20,000 meters at Los Reyes that are not included in today’s mineral resource estimate."
The project sits in a good neighborhood on the northern border of Prime Mining Corp.'s Los Reyes property. Prime just finished more than 158,000 meters of drilling there and announced an updated multi-million-ounce high-grade open constrained resource.
Los Reyes could give a glimpse of what Centenario can expect at Eden.
"The key elements of our continuing discoveries made over the past two years are the size and scale of the high-grade mineralization," Prime Chief Executive Officer Daniel Kunz said, according to Resource World Magazine. "Ongoing metallurgical test work is confirming the relatively simple, high-recovery nature of the resources."
Centenario's stock was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange on November 1. On its first day, its share price jumped to CA$0.18 per share after completing a private financing of CA$0.15 per share in October for CA$1.8 million.
The Catalyst: Mine Has Good Neighbors
Most of the underground channel rock samples taken at the project have returned high-grade gold and silver results, Centenario said.
The company's exploration team visited and evaluated more than 12 projects before finding the Eden gold-silver property in Mexico's Durango state in 2020. In 2021, the company signed a four-year option agreement to acquire 100% of Eden's mineral rights subject to a 1% net smelter return.
Eden is made up of three adjoining mineral concessions totaling more than 5,600 hectares. According to a National Instrument 43-101 technical report filed in April on Eden by geologist Derrick Strickland, little was known of the area before Centenario's exploration programs, even though 30 kilometers nearby is the historic mining town of Cosala.
"There are numerous old mine workings identified on the property which have been sporadically active, at a small scale," Strickland wrote about Eden.
Gold has long been "considered a safe-haven asset for retaining its value throughout history" during market uncertainty, Forbes wrote in "Why Gold Is a Good Investment Right Now."
However, local geography is conducive to big mineral discoveries. "The Eden project is located along the lower western flank of the Sierra Madre Occidental, a prominent north-west-trending volcanic belt that extends from one end of Mexico to the other on the Pacific side of the country," he wrote.
Again, Prime's Los Reyes project could give a glimpse of what to expect. Earlier this year, Prime outlined a new mineral resource estimate (MRE) on the property of an indicated 1.47 million ounces gold equivalent (Moz Au Eq) and an inferred 730,000 ounces Au Eq. The MRE used a cut-off grade of 0.22 g/t Au.
"We are targeting yet another doubling of our mineral resource," Prime Executive Vice President of Exploration Scott Smith said. "Since the MRE year-end drilling cut-off, we have already drilled an additional 20,000 meters at Los Reyes that are not included in today’s mineral resource estimate."
Historically, 1 Moz Au and 60 Moz Ag were recovered from five separate mines at Los Reyes between 1770 and 1990, Prime said.
Management: Dozens of Years of Experience
Centenario's management brings a lot of experience to the table, as well.
Chief Executive Officer and Director Alain Charest has made a 30-year career of exploring gold and silver projects in Mexico.
According to a recent Gallup poll, about one-quarter of Americans think gold is the best asset to invest in long-term, its highest level in more than a decade
He was the exploration geologist and vice president of exploration for Francisco Gold Corp. and Chesapeake Gold Corp., where he spearheaded the discovery and development of the El Sauzal gold deposit in Chihuahua state, which was mined by Goldcorp.
Charest also participated in the discovery and development of the Marlin deposit in northwest Guatemala.
President and Director Doug Fulcher has over 45 years of mineral exploration experience working with numerous senior and junior mining companies domestically and internationally, both public and private.
Fulcher was the President and CEO of Maritime Resources Corp. from 2014 to 2019, developing the Hammerdown project in Newfoundland. He was the president, CEO, and co-founder of Abacus Mining and Exploration from 2003 until 2010, where he was instrumental in the development of the Afton Ajax project in Kamloops, British Columbia.
'A Darling for Investors?'
Gold has long been "considered a safe-haven asset for retaining its value throughout history" during market uncertainty, Forbes wrote in "Why Gold Is a Good Investment Right Now" in May.
"Gold became a darling for investors in 2020 during the worst pandemic in generations, gaining as much as 40%," Forbes wrote. "Gold has returned 18% over the last three years, 54% over the last five years, and 41% over the last decade. That compares unfavorably to the S&P’s 41% three-year return, 51% five-year return, and 156% ten-year return but easily trumps the low- to mid-single-digit returns for other nonequity investments such as government bonds and high-yield savings accounts."
According to a recent Gallup poll, about one-quarter of Americans think gold is the best asset to invest in long-term, its highest level in more than a decade.
Streetwise Ownership Overview*Gold was up US$21.60 at US$1,981.40 an ounce on Thursday, compared to US$1,820.20 in October.
Ownership and Share Structure
Centenario said about 7.4 million, or 18.5%, of its 40 million shares are owned by insiders and management. The rest is in retail.
Top shareholders include Charest with 1.83 million shares or 4.58%, Fulcher with 1.25 million shares or 3.13%, Jackie Cheung with 850,000 shares or 2.13%, and Fang Qiong Joanne Yan with 850,000 shares or 2.13%, according to Reuters.
There are currently about 10.6 million shares held in escrow, which will be released over the next 36 months, and 1.5 million shares held in escrow to be released over the next 18 months, the company said.
Centenario has a market cap of about CA$6 million with 40 million shares outstanding, the company said. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.18 and CA$0.10.
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- Centenario Gold Corp. has a consulting relationship with an affiliate of Streetwise Reports, and pays a monthly consulting fee between US$8,000 and US$20,000.
- As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Centenario Gold Corp.
- Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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