Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. (GCC:CSE; GCCFF:OTC; A0RLEP:WKN; 3TZ:FSE) saw more visible gold and extensive quartz-carbonate veining in four recent drill holes, part of the program underway at its past-producing Quesnelle project in British Columbia's Cariboo Camp, a news release noted.
This quartet of holes, targeting the Halo zone, consists of QGQ24-16, QGQ24-17, QGQ24-18, completed to a depth of 483.41 meters (483.41m), and QGQ24-19, in progress and at a depth of 72.24m. With hole QGQ24-19, the company is pushing to expand the Halo zone to the north as it remains open in all directions. Assays for the completed holes are pending.
"This drilling has intersected prospective veining, extensive alteration plus visible gold within the veins," Cariboo President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frank Callaghan said in the release. "Early signs point to a robust gold system with bulk tonnage mining potential, starting from surface."
Callaghan added, "We're getting a grasp on the geometry of the system and systematically exploring the large gold-bearing trends. We see extraordinary prospectivity along these trends."
The company will have more capital to spend on its ongoing exploration at Quesnelle when its recent, oversubscribed nonbrokered private placement closes, Streetwise Reports noted. The raise generated total proceeds of CA$1.26 million (CA$1.26M).
Previously, the company reported observing multiple instances of visible gold in hole QGQ24-16 earlier this month and in holes QGQ24-13 through QGQ24-15 in July.
"Visible gold in current drilling indicates potential for high-grade assays from mineralized targets," Couloir Capital Senior Mining Analyst Ron Wortel wrote in a recent research report.
Rediscovering the Cariboo Camp
Golden Cariboo, a Canadian explorer-developer, is targeting a potential multimillion-ounce gold resource at its 3,814-hectare Quesnelle project, where gold, silver, lead and zine were produced historically, according to its Investor Presentation.
The company's neighbors in the mining district include Osisko Development Corp. (ODV:TSX.V) (Cariboo gold project), Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (SPA:TSX.V) (Spanish Mountain deposit), Omineca Mining and Metals Ltd. (OMM:TSX.V; OMMSF:OTCMKTS) (Wingdam mine) and Taseko Mines Ltd. (TKO:TSX; TGB:NYSE.MKT) (Gibraltar mine).
Callaghan began rediscovering the Cariboo Camp in the mid-1990s as Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. He and his then team discovered a gold deposit at Bonanza Ledge and advanced the project to production. He also assembled and developed the Cariboo gold project. Ultimately, Osisko Royalties acquired Barkerville and the assets in 2015 for US$338M and as Osisko Development Corp., is about to restart mining operations in the camp.
Subsequently, in 2019, Callaghan acquired Quesnelle, where he aims to repeat his previous successes, given the property's geology is similar to that of the other two projects.
Bull Run Ahead for Mining Stocks
The gold price broke through the US$2,700 per ounce (US$2,700/oz) barrier last week, and ended today at US$2,788/oz. Safe haven demand is buoying the gold and silver prices ahead of the U.S. jobs report due out this Friday and the U.S. elections next week, Kitco News reported on Oct. 29. The trepidation about the outcomes of these two events is "supporting buying interest in the safe-haven gold and silver markets."
Recently polled London Bullion Market Association members indicated they believe the gold price could reach US$2,940/oz during 2025, reported Stockhead on Oct. 28.
"Combined with expectations of lower global interest rates, this further enhances gold's attractiveness as an investment," the article noted.
As for gold equities, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (SPCDNX) confirmed a multidecade bull run for junior, intermediate and senior mining stocks when it closed above 1,000 recently, Stewart Thomson with 321Gold wrote. The index is a key indicator of the health of the general gold, silver and mining stocks market.
Experts predict the gold price will keep climbing. In its revised forecast, Citi Research expects the gold price to hit US$2,800/oz in three months versus its previous estimate of US$2,700, according to Reuters. The analysts based their new projection on potential further U.S. labor market deterioration, interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, and physical gold and exchange-traded funds buying. Looking six to 12 months out, Citi forecasts US$3,000/oz gold.
InvestingHaven's price prediction is even more bullish, US$3,100/oz gold in 2025, it wrote on Oct. 22. The investing research service derived this estimate from leading gold price indicators, including heightened inflation and increasing central bank demand, and from patterns on long-term gold charts, it noted.
The Catalysts
Given that Golden Cariboo is continuing its exploration program at Quesnelle throughout 2024, near-term catalysts include drill and assay results demonstrating significant grades or widths and better defined mineralization controls and trends, according to Couloir Capital's Wortel.
External catalysts include market transactions in the junior mining space involving projects or companies in the Cariboo region. Reports by Osisko Development of project advancements or production results relative to adjacent land also could boost Golden Cariboo's stock price.
New Gold Investment Story
Wortel recommended Golden Cariboo as a Buy "for exposure to gold resource discovery in a Tier 1 jurisdiction as the market delivers record gold prices."
He highlighted the potential for gold discovery at Quesnelle plus exploration upside given Golden Cariboo's three additional claim groups in the Cariboo Camp: Rainbow, RimRock and White Pine.
"The company's project is at an early stage of exploration, with known gold intercepts located in a well-serviced location," Wortel wrote. "It is being run by a competent team that is seeing the project advance through diligent analysis and exploration. The team is excited to see the project advance to [create] a new advancing gold exploration investment story."
Wortel's fair value price on Golden Cariboo implies a 90.5% lift from the current share price.
Ownership and Share Structure
According to Reuters, management and insiders own 20.03% of Golden Cariboo. They are President and CEO Frank Callaghan with 16.45% or 6.93 million (6.93M) shares, Director Andres Rees with 2.3% or 0.33M shares, Elaine Callaghan with 0.97% or 0.41M shares and Director Laurence Smoliak with 0.3% or 0.13M shares.
The rest is in retail. There are no institutional investors at this time.
Golden Cariboo has 42.12M outstanding shares and 34.43M free float traded shares.
Its market cap is CA$6.37 million. Its 52-week high and low are CA$0.36 and CA$0.075 per share, respectively.
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