Value Microcaps Junior Miners

[Lone Clone]

I missed a PR from Endeavour Mining aka EDV last week about their exploration results from 2021. Exploration is one of the linchpins of EDV's success; the hard targets they set allow them to more than replace resources mined while discovering new deposits they can turn into mines. Last year was an outstanding success in that regard, as they 'discovered' -- sometimes it is just turning inferred ounces into M&I -- more than 3M M&I oz Au , smashing their target of 2.1M oz. They did also delineate 900k oz Au in the Inferred category.

Notably, in 2021 M&I resources at their main mines increased by 11-26% even after depletion. Overall, this year's results marked the successful completion of a 5-year plan to find 10-15 M&I resources. They recently announced a new 5-year plan to find 15-20M Indicated ounces; I wouldn't bet against them.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33677074

Teuton Resources aka TUO brought us news from their JV with DEC on the Del Norte polymetallic (but mainly Au & Ag) prospect in B.C.'s Golden Triangle. These are the assays from the last 8 holes drilled in 2021 from rock islands within a glacier, and were successful in extending the Argo/LG zone -- headline intersections of 60.5 g/t Au and 660 g/t Ag over 3.60M in DDH-21-12 and 11.7 g/t Au and 3,074 g/t Ag over 2.29M in DDH-21-15 -- to over 1.2 km strike length, with more due to be uncovered as glaciers melt. As well, exploration has uncovered a number of other Au/Ag zones for further exploration. DEC, which can earn up to 75% of the property, also said they were planning to look for a deep porphyry in 2022.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33677121

TUO also brought us news from their JV with OPT.V on the nearby Old Harry prospect. This was OPt's first season operating the JV, and the sample assays received so far indicate not only the discovery of a new gold zone, but also a porphyry similar to that which hosts a nearby gold deposit. OPT was very eager to acquire the option, so I expect them to go all out on the announced programme of more mapping and sampling and geophysics when exploration resumes in the spring.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33677152

Endeavour Mining aka EDV, which has a number of gold mines and development projects in western Africa, released its latest quarterly and annual reports. It was generally good news, as they beat the top end of guidance and declared another $70M dividend payout. Production reached a new quarterly record at 398k o Au, while AISC dropped slightly to $900/oz. As of year end their cash stash was up to $906M, while their debt had been reduced to $830, the first time the former has exceeded the latter since the 2020 buying spree. 2022 guidance forecasts slightly higher production with slightly higher costs.

2022 was the 9th straight year in which guidance was exceeded -- maybe they should be a tad less conservative in their forecasts? -- even as they integrated the two big acquisitions. They have also begun major share buybracks in addition to the recently instituted dividend programme, and recently announced a multi-year path to increased production through exploration and developmemt of currently non-producing assets.

So now it's all up to continuing that positive performance s well as the performance of the price of gold, albeit currently with a frisson of country risk due to the political upheaval in Burkina Faso.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675033

Oceanagold aka OGC also released it annual and quarterly results. After a challenging year in which they resolved issues around the permits for their Didipio mine in the Philippines and hiccups at the Halle mine in North Carolina, they managed to achieve 2021 guidance thanks to strong Q4 at Halle. Their cash stash was up to $133M at year end. Production continues to ramp up at Didipio, and things are going well in their New Zealand operations, so if they have turned the corner at Halle they should be able to generate plenty of free cash flow. If they do, I expect good appreciation in the share price this year, the price of gold permitting.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675095

FWIW, in the wake of yesterday's quarterlies, Barclays rated Oceanagold aka OGC at Equal Weight with a target of $2.50. Meanwhile, BMO kept OGC at Outperform with a target of $3.25.

Orestone aka ORS announced the start of drilling at their Captain property near the Mt. Milligan mine in central BC. In the wake of earlier drilling and geophysics, this a small drill programme, 2 or 3 holes, lis iiooking to intersect a large interpreted gold/copper porphyry similar to others found in the area. ORS is not one of those promotion-oriented explorers who release multiple PRs larded with breathless prose for each hole drilled, so unless the results are outstanding I don't expect we'll hear from them until all assays are in. If they are positive, I expect them to be able to raise money to fund more exploration at higher share prices.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675181

Karora Resources aka KRR released the results of more drilling at their Beta Hunt Au/Ni mine in Australia. The Fletcher zone has been extended to 500M length and the Gamma Block to 200M, with both remaining open on strike and at depth, with followup drilling planned for later this year. KRR says Fletcher, the third shear zone found at Beta Hunt, has the potential to extend over 3 km, providing years of ore supply, while Gamma Block, though not as large, is high grade and location proximal to the 50C nickel trough, making the mining of each less expensive.here's hoping exploration at Beta Hunt continues to bear such succulent fruit.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675266

Capitan Mining aka CAPT has been drilling away on its Peñoles property in Durango, Mexico. So far we have heard mostly about drilling aimed at exploring and extending the Capitan Au/Ag deposit, but today's PR mostly concerns two other targets. Jesus Maria already has an Ag/Au/Pb/Zn resource that runs parallel to Capitan, but CAPT thinks the report was released before sufficient exploration was done, and will be remedying that deficit with more drilling this year. Drilling is ongoing and assays are pending.

CAPT has also defined a new style of Au/Ag mineralization along a cross fault that intersects both Capitan and Jesus Maria. None of these deposits look to be capable of supporting a mine by themselves, but they are all open so if enough mineralization can be found they collectively might be sufficient.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675379

Canada Silver Cobalt Works aka CCW released the results of three more holes from the Big Silver Ag/Co zone of its Castle East property in Ontario. The intercepts are narrow but high grade, e.g. 6188 g/t Ag over 0.5M. We will get a sense of whether this exploration is amounting to anything when they release a Resource Report later in Q1. CCW is also advancing permitting to construct a ramp to Big Silver, not only to further exploration but also to generate revenue by extracting a bulk sample to be processed at their nearby facilities.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=33675435

I will also mention that the IKN newsletter indicates that Minera IRL aka MIRL has hosted two site visits from companies that might be interested in buying the Ollachea gold project in Peru. There is no indication that this was more than tire-kicking.