Explorer Intersects More Visible Gold in British Columbia

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Golden Cariboo Resources Ltd. (GCC:CSE; GCCFF:OTC; A0RLEP:WKN; 3TZ:FSE) announced that its current drill hole at its Quesnelle Gold-Quartz Mine in British Columbia has hit a "broad zone of gold mineralization with strong quartz-carbonate veining showing visible gold in three occurrences."

It's not the first time they've seen visible gold there. During its exploration at Quesnelle, Golden Cariboo has found multiple occurrences in its core results from the project. According to the company, that includes at least 10 holes with visible gold in a row.

Drill hole QGQ25-23 was completed in the north-northwest-extension of the Halo zone. 

"The mineralization is highly similar to a zone intersected in QGQ24-20, which returned 1.45 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and 16.05 g/t silver (Ag) over 137.17 meters within a broader intercept, and to the mineralization intercepted in QGQ24-21, which is currently ALS Canada for assaying," the company said in a release.

QGQ25-23 was collared into graphitic argillites, Golden Cariboo said. At a depth of 193 meters, it intersected the lithologic contact towards to underlying andesitic volcaniclastics, which comprise the uppermost portion of a greenstone package.

"An intense stockwork of several centimeters to over 1-meter-wide quartz-iron-carbonate veins occurs on both sides of the contact starting at a depth of 118 meters," the company said. "The veins contain VG (visible gold) in three occurrences between 202.4 meters and 281.2 meters . . .  At a depth of 288.04 meters, QGQ25-23 was abandoned within the mineralized zone due to technical difficulties, resulting in a drilled length of the vein stockwork of 170 meters."

In April, the company announced that drill hole QGQ24-21 at Halo intersected a "zone of persistent gold mineralization," which included "multiple occurrences of visible gold, starting from 257 meters downhole." This would mark the ninth continuous drill hole showing visible gold since the Halo zone was discovered. 

"Visible gold in current drilling indicates potential for high-grade assays from mineralized targets," Couloir Capital Senior Mining Analyst Ron Wortel wrote of the project in a recent research report as he assigned a Buy recommendation for the company's stock, citing Golden Cariboo's exploration initiatives as a unique opportunity for exposure to a gold resource discovery in a Tier 1 jurisdiction.

Study Hopes to Address 'Nugget Effect'

After the repeated visible gold discoveries, Golden Cariboo announced last month that it planned an orientation study using Chrysos PhotonAssay technology to analyze the gold in drill core and rock samples at the site.

The non-destructive photon assay procedure is designed to evaluate the potential for better addressing the "nugget effect," one of the most persistent challenges in precious metals exploration, while potentially improving assay turnaround times, the company said.

"This innovative technology not only optimizes resource evaluation but also strengthens the transparency and reliability of assay data, which is vital for informed decision making in our exploration program and possible future resource development," said Golden Cariboo President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Callaghan at the time.

The process uses high-energy photons (X-rays) to interact with the atomic structure of samples, resulting in characteristic gamma emissions from gold atoms.

"This process allows for the quick analysis of larger volumes (up to 500 grams) of sample material per assay, compared to traditional fire assay methods (30-to 50-gram sample material)," the company's release said. "It therefore boasts a huge advantage in addressing the nuggety nature typical for gold mineralization. The nugget effect is usually found to be particularly strong when coarse, visible gold is present, as encountered in almost all of the recent drill holes at the company's Halo zone target."

By analyzing a bigger and therefore more representative sample, the photon assay "assures that both finely dispersed gold and coarse gold particles are accurately quantified. Photon assay is an established method widely used in multiple gold exploration and mining projects around the world with excellent results."

The procedure will be used initially on core samples, which have already been analyzed by traditional fire assay for a comparison of both methods.

Two 'Significantly Sized' Soil Anomalies

In March, Golden Cariboo said it had identified two "significantly sized" gold in Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) soil anomalies north of the currently known extent of Halo. Detailed analysis of the MMI soil data between Hixon Creek and Buckley Creek "revealed gold anomalies that have been shown to correlate with known gold mineralization of the trenching and diamond drilling program," geologist David Mark said. "This, therefore, shows that MMI is invaluable in outlining gold targets within the Quesnelle Gold Quartz Mine property. As such, it has revealed numerous gold anomalies throughout the MMI survey area that are new targets for future exploration."

Earlier drilling results this year also significantly extended the Halo zone.

Technical Analyst Clive Maund, commenting on earlier drill results from the project, said that while "the grades found are good, the big news here is the extent of it."

Throughout the year, Golden Cariboo plans to continue its 12-month continuous drilling and exploration program. The expectation is that the company will be drilling 7,500 meters and around 25 holes.

The Catalyst: Gold Could Still Rise Despite Inflation Numbers

According to Angelica Leicht writing for CBS Money Watch, the latest inflation report brought the good news that inflation was improving and prices only went up by 0.2% from March to April.

"But what's surprising is that while inflation has been cooling down, gold prices have remained hot since the start of the year — breaking numerous records over the last five months and recently surpassing the US$3,400 per ounce mark for the first time ever," she wrote. "That, in turn, has been great for gold investors, who have been raking in the returns as gold prices have climbed. With inflation continuing to cool, though, there could be ripple effects that have a widespread impact on the economy, including the gold market."

Gold is typically seen as a hedge against inflation, she wrote, so "a decrease in inflationary pressures would generally lead to a dip in gold prices."

"However, that relationship isn't always straightforward, especially when other economic factors come into play," Leicht wrote.

Others are predicting that gold could still go higher. Garth Friesen wrote for Forbes on March 15 that DoubleLine Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said, "I think gold will make it to US$4,000. I'm not sure that'll happen this year, but I feel like that's the measured move anticipated by the long consolidation at around US$1,800 on gold."

And according to an April 10 post on Goldfix, Goldman Sachs has revised raised the upper boundary of its forecast range for the end of the year to US$3,520 an ounce and even introduced a "tall-risk scenario" as high as US$4,500 an ounce.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Golden Cariboo, management and insiders own 10.5% of the company, and President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Callaghan owns nearly 9%.

Retail investors hold the remaining. There are no institutional investors.

The company said it has 70.2 million shares outstanding, and its market cap is CA$6.3 million. Over the past 52 weeks, Golden Cariboo has traded between CA$0.09 and CA$0.30 per share.