By James Kwantes
Published first at Patreon
Yukon's original gold rush is the stuff of legends.
Some 130 years later, new hard-rock gold discoveries show the Canadian territory remains an exceptional place to explore for buried treasure – especially in a US$3,900 gold environment.
Prospector Metals (PPP-V) announced a drill hole Wednesday that added $82 million to its market capitalization and 83 cents to its stock, for a $1.14 close (up 284%). Hole ML25-31 intersected 13.79 g/t gold and 1.84% copper over 44 metres, including 21.93 g/t Au over 24.65 metres, at the company's ML property 80 km east of Dawson City.
The hot hole into the new TESS zone was a "blind discovery" but Prospector was not flying blind. Company geologists identified the prospective zone using surface geochemistry, LiDAR and World View. World View imagery, captured from a stratospheric balloon, is similar to satellite imagery but cheaper and higher-resolution.
Discussing the drill results on a company webinar Wednesday were president and CEO Rob Carpenter, VP Exploration Jodie Gibson and advisor John Robins. It's not their first rodeo and it's not their first Yukon gold discovery. The strength of the team is a big reason I was comfortable buying the stock post-discovery on the way up Wednesday, despite an already fierce move.
DISCOVERY SPECIALISTS
Carpenter and Robins were co-founders of Kaminak Gold, which sold to Goldcorp for $520 million in 2016. While Eira Thomas is credited with taking Kaminak over the finish line, Carpenter was the original CEO and the geological brains behind the discovery and growth of the Coffee gold deposit (Newmont recently sold the Coffee deposit to Tim Warman's Fuerte Metals (FMT-V) for US$50 million in cash and shares, retaining a 3% NSR).
During the webinar, Carpenter described ML25-31 as the best hole he's ever been involved with. Coffee had some very high-grade holes and zones, so that's quite a statement.
Gibson, the 2020 Yukon Prospector of the Year, was project manager for Underworld Resources and defined the company's Golden Saddle and Arc deposits in Yukon before the $139 million sale to Kinross in 2010. Prior to joining forces with Carpenter, Gibson was VP Exploration for White Gold (WGO-V), where he expanded those same Golden Saddle and Arc deposits and made new discoveries.
Robins is no stranger to those who invest in the junior space (or who follow my writing). The prospector/geologist runs the Discovery Group exploration alliance, along with fellow co-founder Jim Paterson. He has a long track record of involvement with discoveries and successful exits, including Kaminak Gold ($520 million), Great Bear Resources ($1.8 billion) and Great Bear Royalties ($200 million).
Robins also has a personal connection to Yukon: his great-great-grandfather was a Yukon prospector during the original Klondike Gold Rush.
Team and track record are two keys to successful junior mining speculation. So is answering this question: has the team created shareholder value in the same commodity and jurisdiction/area? Prospector ticks those boxes.
Prospector drilled 39 holes and about 6,650 metres in the 2025 program, with assays pending on a further 27 holes drilled into various targets on the property.
HOT 'HOOD
Prospector's ML property is in the same Tintina gold belt and hosts similar reduced intrusion-related gold system (RIRGS) mineralization as the Valley gold deposit to the east, being advanced by Snowline Gold (SGD-V). Valley hosts 8.8 million open-pittable ounces, mostly Indicated, at greater than 1 g/t Au. Snowline shares closed Wednesday at $12.00, an all-time high, for a market cap of $2 billion. Another neighbour is the AurMac project held by Banyan Gold (BYN-V), which hosts 7.7M oz at 0.6 g/t.
The Yukon: Different This Time? | Aug. 3, 2023
As Yukon discoveries and ounces pile up, the territory is getting harder to ignore, and not just for retail investors. B2Gold (BTO-T) holds a 9.9% stake in Prospector after spending about $900,000 in June 2024 to subscribe for 5.6 million common shares at 16.3c, later re-upping to maintain that ownership level. That stake is now worth roughly $11.4 million. B2Gold also owns a 9.9% stake in Snowline, an investment that has worked out nicely too.
Another Yukon-focused mining company that has captured the zeitgeist – albeit on the base metals side – is Lundin company Fireweed Metals (FWZ-V). Fireweed is developing high-grade tungsten and zinc-lead-silver deposits on the Yukon/N.W.T. border and has received combined funding commitments of $35.4 million from the Canadian and U.S. governments to advance Mactung and for road and power development.
Fireweed's Lundin Makeover is Complete | April 10, 2023
Fireweed shares have been on an escalator up this year, more than doubling (to $3.13) in that time frame.
Prospector Metals (PPP-V)
Price: $1.17
Shares out: 98.6 million (138.55M fully diluted)
Market cap: $115.36 million
Snowline Gold (SGD-V)
Price: $12.00
Shares out: 172.37 million (184M fully diluted)
Market cap: $2.07 billion
Fireweed Metals (FWZ-V)
Price: $3.13
Shares out: 210 million (225M fully diluted)
Market cap: $657.3 million
Disclosure: I own shares of Prospector Metals, Snowline Gold and Fireweed Metals. No business relationship with any company mentioned. This is not financial advice and all investors need to do their own due diligence.
