First Drill Program Kicks Off at Gold Property in Nevada

StrikePoint Gold Inc. (SKP:TSX.V; STKXF:OTCQB) began a maiden drill program at its Cuprite gold project in Nevada's historical Walker Lane trend, it announced in a news release.

Envirotech Drilling will carry out the work, comprising seven to 10 holes placed over 5,000 meters (5,000m), at this property near other notable mining projects.

"The surface similarities to AngloGold's new Silicon and Merlin discoveries make the Cuprite gold project a compelling drill target," StrikePoint President and Chief Executive Officer Michael G. Allen said in the release. "Silicon and Merlin are new blind discoveries totaling over 13,000,000 ounces (13 Moz) of gold and prove that there are still Tier 1 gold discoveries to be made in Nevada, particularly in the Walker Lane Trend."

Last month, StrikePoint announced it identified drill targets at Cuprite through an induced polarization survey.

"These targets appear to be relatively close to surface and of a size that could support a major new discovery in Nevada," the company said.

Metals Rich Project Portfolio

StrikePoint Gold, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a gold explorer with three projects, at which it aims to build precious metals resources.

Cuprite is the company's flagship project. It consists of 574 unpatented claims covering 44 square kilometers in an underexplored mining trend, home to the Comstock Lode, Anaconda and Candelaria mines of yesteryear, in Nevada. This Tier 1 jurisdiction was the U.S.'s top gold-producing state last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Strikepoint acquired Cuprite, it said, because of its similarities to another project in Walker Lane, Anglogold's Silicon, the 4.22 Moz gold resource of which was announced in 2022. The steam-heated alteration seen at Cuprite may in fact be larger than that at Silicon.

"Cuprite represents a low-cost, high-impact entry into Nevada," StrikePoint said.

In recent years in The Silver State, many mergers and acquisitions have occurred. They include AngloGold purchasing Corvus Gold and the Sterling project and Centerra Gold buying the Gemfield project.

"Last year saw a lot of activity on the Walker Lane trend nearby, especially by AngloGold," Technical Analyst Clive Maund wrote in a Feb. 22 report. "The chances of StrikePoint finding something very worthwhile this year at the Cuprite gold project are considered to be high."

Certain members of the leadership team have mining industry experience in Nevada. CEO Allen, for example, previously was involved in exploring the nearby Sterling project as well as other properties in the state.

StrikePoint's other two projects, both in the advanced exploration stage, are in British Columbia’s Golden Triangle. One, the gold-silver Porter-Idaho project, sited at the head of the Portland Canal, boasts two past-producing mines, Silverado and Prosperity-Porter Idaho. Between these two former mines is an unexplored, undrilled, 2,000m area.

"Veins at both sites run at a similar orientation, therefore it is hypothesized that the system may be continuous under the peak of Mount Rainey," the company said.

An existing resource, calculated from Porter's Prosperity and D veins in 2012, includes 394,700 tons of 868 grams per ton silver (868 g/t Ag) in the Indicated category and 88,900 tons of 595 g/t Ag in the Inferred category.

StrikePoint's other Canadian project is Willoughby, encompassing three mineral claims over 995 hectares. Significant historical drilling was done there and showed the presence of excellent gold and silver grades. One intercept, for instance, from the North zone, hole U96-02, returned 120.3 g/t gold (Au) and 2,434.84 g/t Ag over 3.5m. The most recent exploration work done at Willoughby was a 1,715m drill campaign in 2020.

Exploration Unearths New Deposits

Gold is an important metal used in various products, including computers, communications equipment, spacecraft, jet aircraft engines, jewelry and more and is a long-term store of value, according to the USGS.

Silver is one of the metals needed in large quantities for the transition to green energy, the International Precious Metals Institute reported in January. Thus, demand is growing, particularly for use in solar power generation and electric vehicles, but supply is constrained.

Precious metals exploration companies, like StrikePoint, are crucial to the mining industry and the world, experts said.

Exploration "leads to the discovery of new mines, more investments and new jobs in the sector," Josie Osborne, British Columbia's minister of energy, mines and low-carbon innovation, asserted in a recent statement. "Mineral exploration is vital to unearthing new deposits, including critical minerals."

Stocks of junior mining companies offer exposure to a commodity, the precious metals in the case of StrikePoint. They tend to be less expensive than those of the seniors, and the payoff can be big. When early-stage mining companies are successful, according to mining investment firm Lion Selection Group, "they can provide outstanding investment returns."

The Catalyst: Project's First Drill Data

With drilling now underway at Cuprite, a flow of results will follow. They could boost StrikePoint's stock price.

"The potential for rapid appreciation of the stock," Maund commented, "centers on the big maiden drilling program that will commence on the property in March, with results expected as soon as April. This clearly could generate some serious interest."

Maund, just last month, recommended StrikePoint as a Strong Buy for all time frames. In his report he wrote the stock, then only CA$0.05 per share, was an exceptional bargain. This is about where it is today, still only roughly 1% of the price at its peak in 2009-2019.

In sum, now is the time to invest in StrikePoint, as the price, now cheap, could jump up on positive drill results. The upcoming data are likely to be good and are expected shortly.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Reuters, strategic entities own 15.8%, or 39.02 million (39.02M) shares, of StrikePoint Gold. These six investors are, from greatest to least interest owned, are holding company 2176423 Ontario Ltd. with 13.96% or 29.84M shares, President and CEO Michael G. Allen with 0.89% or 1.9M shares, Executive Chairman and Director Shawn Khunkhun with 0.55% or 1.17M shares, Chief Financial Officer Paulo Santos with 0.23% or 0.5M shares, Ian Harris with 0.13% or 0.28M shares and Adrian Fleming with 0.04% or 0.08M shares.

Institutional ownership amounts to 2.46% or 5.25M shares, divided between two firms. U.S. Global Investors Inc. holds 1.29% or 2.75M shares, and Sprott Asset Management LP owns 1.17% or 2.5M shares.

Retail investors own the remaining 81.75%.

StrikePoint has 213.78M shares outstanding and 180M free float traded shares.

Its market cap is CA$8.68 million, and its 52-week trading range is CA$0.035–0.085 per share.