Thesis Gold Inc.'s (TAU:TSXV; THSGF:OTCQX; A3EP87:WKN) final 2024 drill data from the Ranch area of its Lawyers Ranch project in British Columbia "extended the zone of known mineralization along strike and at depth and should support an increase in the resource," reported Jonathan Guy, Hannam & Partners director of mining research, in a Feb. 19 research note.
"Alongside the advancement of exploration, this [2024] program provided critical engineering and environmental data to support both the prefeasibility study (PFS) and environmental assessment (EA)," Guy wrote.
277% Return to Target
Hannam & Partners maintained its CA$2.90 per share price target on Thesis Gold, now trading at about CA$0.77 per share, noted Guy.
The target implies 277% upside to the current share price.
"We expect the shares to be driven by ongoing exploration, especially [at] Ranch," Guy wrote. Again, he described Thesis Gold as "a highly attractive acquisition target with a scalable resource in a low-risk jurisdiction."
Intercept Highlights, New Discovery
In his research report, Guy included some of the highlights from this final batch of Ranch drill results. Hole 24TH2DD002 returned 19.58 meters (19.58m) of 1.16 grams per ton gold equivalent (1.16 g/t Au eq) starting at 131m and 9.92m of 2.74 g/t Au eq from 177.08m.
Another intercept was 8.13m of 1.22 g/t Au eq from 137.75m, encountered in hole 24BNGDD002, placed in the Thesis II area to the south of the Thesis structural corridor.
"This drilling builds on previous work that identified a number of fault-bounded mineral domains with mineralization hosted in altered volcanics," noted Guy.
Outcomes of Overall Campaign
The 2024 drilling at Ranch also tested the Ring and Golden Furlong targets. At Ring, Thesis made a new discovery, where additional near-surface exploration potential could expand Ranch's current 700,000 ounce (700 Koz) Au eq resource. Further, Guy pointed out, Ranch could host large-scale porphyry mineralization at depth.
Given this exploration upside, he wrote, Ranch warrants additional drilling.
The 2024 exploration program at Ranch also included 17 holes of geotechnical drilling and six hydrogeological drill holes for water monitoring. The purpose was to obtain data necessary for further project studies/assessments.
Catalysts in 2025, Beyond
Guy reported what the next steps are for advancing Lawyers Ranch.
This year Thesis Gold plans to do additional work at Ranch, which he wrote should include resource expansion drilling given the various targets exist over 40 square kilometers of the high-sulphidation epithermal system there.
Completion of the Lawyers Ranch PFS is expected in Q4/25.
The company intends to commence the EA process this year and submit the draft EA application in 2027 with a target of 2028 for the approval decision.
Next year, Thesis likely will start the feasibility study and detailed engineering.
Low Capital Intensity Project
Guy reiterated the results of the September 2024 Lawyers Ranch preliminary economic assessment (PEA) that outlined an open-pit and underground operation producing an average of 215 Koz per year.
He highlighted the project's low costs. The For a 12,600 ton per day plant, initial capex was estimated at CA$598 million (CA$598M) and sustaining capex, at CA$547M. This equates to a capital requirement of CA$2,251 per ounce (CA$2,251/oz), which Guy pointed out is less than the Canadian average of CA$3,596/oz. The all-in sustaining cost was forecasted at US$1,013/oz, and this too is below the industry's most recent quarterly average of US$1,510/oz.
"We calculate a net asset value of CA$1,670M for Lawyers Ranch using the PEA outputs, a US$2,100/oz gold price and a 5% discount rate," Guy wrote.
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