Best Gold and Silver Mining Discoveries of April

From abundant flowers to more rain than appreciated, April is a month known for many things. What some people may not have expected was spring to shower us with great drilling and resource estimate results.

Gold and silver have been prized commodities for decades, but recently, this interest has picked up. Due to the tumultuous status of the U.S. dollar and a lowering faith in the economy as a whole, people are leaning back into precious metals. Silver has been gaining interest away from its use as a  precious metal, as it is being used in solar technology, while gold hit an all-time high in Australian dollars earlier this month.

Rick Mills of Ahead of the Herd commented on this in a March 10 newsletter, saying that he believes gold and silver are set to soar. He stated, "Their prices have both seen impressive jumps this year, with gold recently coming within cents of an all-time high, and silver also flirting with price levels last seen a decade ago."

Over the month, we have reported on some massive finds in both sectors. Below is a list of the top players over April on Streetwise Reports.

Lion One Drills 88.07 G/T AU

Starting us off, on April 25, we saw "bonanza grades" in Lion One Metals Ltd.'s (LIO:TSX.V; LOMLF:OTCQX; LLO:ASX) Tuvatu project in Fiji. This drilling was completed at the end of April. 

Lion One reports that the Tuvatu project sits near "prime world-class infrastructure." Because of this, the company is confident in its project, saying, "All of the geologic lines of evidence suggest Tuvatu and Porgera [of Placer Dome] are related gold systems with remarkable geologic similarities."

Various "bonanza grade" zones were intersected, including:

• 07 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 5.7meters (5.7m), including 1,396g/t Au over 0.3m
• 52g/t Au over 5.55m
• 93g/t Au over 7.2m
• 12g/t Au over 9.3m
• 48g/t Au over 9.6m
• 6g/t Au over 6.6m
• 97g/t Au over 5.4m
• 85g/t Au over 6.9m

Visible was gold observed in several drill holes. Lion One's recent "Bought Deal" public offering and drill results piqued the interest of a myriad of experts.

On the day of the results, Eric Coffin of HRA Advisors wrote, "This was good news, and the market took it as such, bidding the stock higher yesterday . . . LIO is drifting toward this area and will run drifts along the two larger URW structures and start mining them in a couple of weeks. This material will be added to the stockpile to be processed once the mill is completed and tested late this year. A bunch of material like this should generate above plan production in the first couple of years, which would improve the economics and make financing an expansion easier."

Chen Lin has a lot of optimism about the stock, saying in a March 4 newsletter, "If they can execute, LIO can be the next K92 as it has a very high grade."

Then on March 5, Jay Taylor of Hotline commented that the Bought Deal "should provide the company with sufficient capital to ensure it gets off to a positive and profitable start with its high-grade Tuvatu Project in Fiji."

In a May 5 release, Bob Moriarty of 321Gold wrote, "I love the company, I love the project, and it is my biggest position . . . If you liked Lion One at US$1.05 two days ago, you should love it at US$0.85 . . . Lion One is one of the biggest sleepers in the business. Gold has hit a new high, and one of these days, investors will see the opportunity that exists in resource stocks."

McFarlane Intersects 148.37 G/T AU

In an update regarding McFarlane Lake Mining Ltd.'s (MLM:NEO;MLMLF:OTCQB) High Lake Drilling Program, the company showcased compelling results.

The High Lake property is 45km west of Kenora and 150km east of Winnipeg. It is buttressed by metavolcanic/metasediment rocks "that have been intruded by a younger (2.7 Ma years) composite intrusive body (High Lake Intrusive)."

McFarlane reports that "The age of this intrusive is consistent with other gold mineralizing events in other camps." 

The two largest highlights included:

• MLHL-22-06 intersected 24.96 g/t Au over 14.9 meters, from 325.56 to 340.46 meters from surface, and was Junior Mining Hub's top 5 weekly intercepts for the week of January 9, 2023
• MLHL-22-17 intersected 148.37 g/t Au over 1.3 meters from 113.20 to 114.50 meters from surface and was Junior Mining Hub's top 3 weekly intercept for the week of February 10, 2023.

In light of these, the company commented, "We were further encouraged by the discovery of a high-grade gold pod within 20 to 30 meters of surface, opening the potential for a sizable bulk sample using low-cost open pit mining methods. Further, our geophysical survey identified a high chargeability anomaly over our existing gold mineralization. This anomaly continues east in the unexplored ground for 300 meters opening up the potential for more gold discoveries."

"We were also attracted to High Lake as it is well-located near the city of Kenora, Ontario, and close to power lines, major highways, and a skilled labor force to aid future mine development," the company continued.

Emerita Intersects 178.4 G/T AG

New assay results were reported from Emerita Resources Corp.'s (EMO:TSX.V; EMOTF:OTCMKTS; LLJ:FSE) La Romanera deposit and La Infanta deposit.

These deposits are located in Emerita's IBW Project, hosted within the renowned Iberian Pyrite Belt.

The company reports this is "one of the most productive volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) terranes in the world."

The location holds a formidable mining history dating back to Roman times. 

La Romera resulted in 15 drill holes. The top results from this deposit included:

• Drill Hole LR067's upper lens intersected 0.3% copper (Cu), 3.3% lead (Pb), 3.6% zinc (Zn), 3.98 g/t Au, and 178.4 g/t Ag over 2.2m at a depth of 195.4m. The lower lens intersected 0.3% Cu, 1.0% Pb, 2.2% Zn, 1.39 g/t Au, and 80.5 g/t silver (Ag) over 13.0m, and 0.3% Cu, 1.4% Pb, 3.7 Zn, 2.16 g/t Au, and 81.0 g/t Ag over 4.0m.
• Drill Hole LR069's upper lens intersected 0.2% Cu, 1.3% Pb, 3.2% Zn, 0.54 g/t Au, and 55.7 g/t Ag over 22.9m at a depth of 216.5m. This included 0.2% Cu, 3.3% Pb, 8.6% Zn, 0.50 g/t Au, and 88.5 g/t Ag over 3.9m.
• Drill Hole LR101's lower lens intersected 0.6% Cu, 2.2% Pb, 7.8% Zn, 1.26 g/t Au, and 57.6 g/t Ag over 1.8m at a depth of 523.9m.
• Drill Hole LR115 intersected 0.2% Cu, 1.9% Pb, 4.1% Zn, 4.01 g/t Au, and 84.1 g/t Ag over 32.6m at a depth of 138.9m, including 0.1% Cu, 2.3% Pb, 3.4% Zn, 7.07 g/t Au, and 99.9 g/t Ag, over 3.5m at a depth of 155.0m.

Seven holes were drilled at La Infanta. The top results from these included:

• Drill Hole IN060B, on the North Block, intersected 0.9% Cu, 2.6% Pb, 6.0% Zn, 0.28 g/t Au, and 43.0 g/t Ag over 4.6m at a depth of 95.4m, including 2.5% Cu, 7.3% Pb, 16.9% Zn, 0.41 g/t Au, and 111.0 g/t Ag over 1.6m.
• Drill Hole IN066, on the North Block, intersected 0.9% Cu, 3.1% Pb, 5.8% Zn, 0.20 g/t Au, and 64.4 g/t Ag, over 2.7m at a depth of 244.5m.
• Drill Hole IN067, on the North Block, intersected 0.7% Cu, 2.5% Pb, 4.7% Zn, 0.18 g/t Au, and 137.9 g/t Ag, over 3.1m at a depth of 49.7m. On the South Block, the drill intersected 2.1% Cu, 6.5% Pb, 12.3% Zn, 0.63 g/t Au, and 214.5 g/t Ag over 6.5m at a depth of 108.2m. It intersected the South Block again with 2.6% Cu, 13.6% Pb, 24.3% Zn, 0.48 g/t Au, and 131.4 g/t Ag over 5.3m at a depth of 149.2m.

Referencing these results, President Joaquin Merino, P.Geo. noted, "We are closing in on the final drill hole assays required for the initial NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Iberian Belt West Project."

Outcrop Resource Holds 530 G/T AG

At the start of this month, Streetwise reported results from Outcrop Silver & Gold Corp.'s (OCG:TSX.V; OCGSF:OTCQX; MRG1:DB) maiden resource estimate for its 100%-owned flagship Santa Ana silver-gold project in Colombia. 

Santa Ana is 27,697 hectares, 6,475 ha titled in the northern Tolima Department, and readily accessible to the company through various paved roads. 

The company reports that "the project consists of six or more mapped or projected vein zones across a trend 12 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers long."

This initial indicated resource estimated was at "1,226,000 tonnes grading 614 grams per tonne silver equivalent, containing 24.1 million ounces of silver equivalent. Initial Inferred Resources are estimated at 966,000 tonnes grading 435 grams per tonne silver equivalent, containing 13.5 million ounces of equivalent silver."

Highlights of this included:

• Total resource of 27,000,000 ounces (27 Moz) Ag and 140,000 ounces Au, or about 37 Moz silver equivalent (Ag eq) at 530 g/t.
• This resource included seven veins.
• Indicated resources amount to 1,230,000 tons (1.23 Mt) of 446 g/t Ag and 2.25 g/t Au. Inferred resources stand at 1 Mt at 312 g/t Ag and 1.64 g/t Au. Both resource categories add up to 2.2 Mt.
• All figures assume long-term metals prices of US$25.50 per ounce for silver and US$1,850 per ounce for gold. Also figured into the resource are a 158 g/t Ag eq cutoff grade, a 1-meter minimum vein width, a US$114 per ton mining cost, and 93% Ag and 96% Au recoveries.

In a research note responding to these results, Research Capital analyst Stuart McDougall gave Outcrop Silver & Gold a Speculative Buy rating, with a CA$0.75 target price.

Then in a May 4 newsletter, Chen Lin of What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? added OGC to a list of companies that are in a good opportunity to buy. He noted, "There is a lot of financing news; lately, some very good companies are down just due to the financing. I see it could be a good opportunity to pick up shares . . . OGC.v shares also fell hard as they announced financing. It is very rare, one of the highest silver deposits in the world."

Metallic Drills 1,310 G/T AG

Last but certainly not least, Metallic Minerals Corp. (MMG:TSX.V; MMNGF:OTCQB) announced complete results from its just-finished 2022 campaign. This campaign was conducted at Metallic's 100%-owned Keno Silver project in the Yukon Territory.

Keno Silver is comprised of 171 square kilometers in the historic Keno Hill Silver District of Canada's Yukon Territory.

This area has produced over 200 million ounces of silver at an average grade exceeding 1,300 grams per tonne. Metallic reports that the company has excellent infrastructure and consists "of high-grade silver veins, typically 1-5 meters in width, grading from 200 g/t to >5,000 g/t silver, with associated lead and zinc sulfides."

Highlights of this included:

• Hole CH22-01 intersected two separate higher-grade vein intervals within a broad zone of bulk tonnage mineralization. From 91.5 to 92.0 meters, a 0.5 m interval contained 348g/t Ag Eq and 125.2 to 125.7 m; the hole intercepted 0.5 m of 1,201 g/t Ag Eq bounding a zone of 34.2 m grading 38 g/t Ag Eq.
• The southernmost drilling at the Caribou target, first drilled in 2021, continues to demonstrate strong potential for further extension with 1,310 g/t Ag Eq encountered over 0.5 m at a near-surface depth of 44 m in hole CH22-05.

President Scott Petsel stated in reference to the results, "With high-grade results at the Caribou, Formo, and Fox area targets, along with the continued delineation of broad bulk tonnage mineralization near surface, we are continuing to demonstrate the extensive exploration potential of the district. We look forward to completing the first resource for the Keno Silver project in the second half of 2023 and are also expecting to announce a resource update on our La Plata Project in Colorado in Q2, following the exceptional drill results announced on February 28, 2023."

All in all, April seemed to be a month for gold and silver. Who knows which sector will be the star of the months to follow? Until then, we will continue to deliver company updates right here on Streetwise Reports.

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Important Disclosures:

1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of McFarlane Lake Mining Ltd. and Outcrop Silver & Gold Corp., companies mentioned in this article.
2. Katheirne DeGilio wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee. 
3. The following companies mentioned in this article are billboard sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Emerita Resources Corp., Lion One Metals Ltd., McFarlane Lake Mining Ltd., Metallic Minerals Corp., Outcrop Silver & Gold Corp. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. 
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