Gold mining has long been a lucrative industry, even more so now as the metal trades near record highs, with its value deeply rooted in its relatively limited supply, durability, and the role that mining plays in various sectors including jewelry, electronics, exchange-traded funds, and central banking. The opportunity in gold mining is enduring as demand for the precious metal remains very strong while new high-grade discoveries are incredibly valuable.
As of May 20, 2023, the spot price of gold stands at $1,978 USD. The outlook for the metal is influenced by a multitude of factors, from the economy to interest rates to geopolitical events to the direction of the U.S. dollar which has been in a downtrend since last fall. In the face of current economic uncertainties, gold is doing what it often does best – serving as a safe haven for investors, outperforming the broader equity markets. A strong gold price in 2023 has helped producers tremendously, and now some of the top explorers are starting to grab attention. One of those is Gander Gold Corp. (OTCQB: GANDF) (CSE: GAND), a unique story in Newfoundland, on Canada’s east coast, which is no stranger to important new high-grade gold discoveries.
This article provides an in-depth look at Gander Gold’s people and properties, the uniqueness of this situation, and the company’s potential for adding some fresh sizzle to the junior gold market over the coming weeks and months.
Overview: Gander Gold Corp.
Canada’s most famous gold prospector, Shawn Ryan, filled Gander Gold with a number of top tier grassroots properties a couple of years ago, just ahead of the 2021 Newfoundland Gold Rush. This was followed by Gander embarking on one of the most extensive pre-drilling exploration campaigns ever carried out on the island, resulting in nearly 40,000 soil samples, an abundance of geophysical surveys, and detailed ground truthing.
Now is when the fruits of that labor could pay off handsomely as Gander Gold has just started first-ever drilling across a plethora of compelling targets after two years of initial exploration. Many other companies made the mistake of rushing into drilling in 2021 when the Newfoundland gold discovery euphoria first erupted, coinciding with a brief gold price rebound. Gander took a different route, opting for a more systematic, methodical approach in order to develop higher probability targets further down the road. That patience may prove to be the key to the next game changing new discovery in the Canadian gold sector.
Gander Gold’s properties span an impressive 2,259 sq. km, making this company one of the largest landowners on the entire island of Newfoundland. As a lot of yellow on this map shows, they particularly dominate the Gander area with three major projects – Gander North, Mt. Peyton, and BLT.
These three Gander Gold projects, never previously drilled, broadly surround one of Canada’s most exciting highest-grade gold discoveries this century – New Found Gold’s (NYSE American: NFGC) (TSXV: NFG) Queensway Project highlighted by its prolific Keats Zone starting approximately 15 km west of Gander North. New Found Gold commands about a $1 billion (CDN) market capitalization after a series of high-grade discoveries at various zones including Keats where one drill hole returned a staggering 106 g/t Au over a core interval of 35.40 meters.
The gold deposit model for Newfoundland has undergone a major transformation in recent years, thanks in part to not only New Found Gold but Shawn Ryan, opening up vast new areas for the potential discovery of high-grade systems.
Publicly listed on the CSE in March 2022 under the ticker “GAND,” Gander Gold has positioned itself as a well-funded “pure-play” Newfoundland gold company and the premier grassroots discovery opportunity on the island. Gander also has an influential shareholder base, with Sassy Gold (OTCQB: SSYRF) (CSE: SASY) and Eric Sprott owning just over 50% of the total issued and outstanding shares, and a handful of other key long-term players (including Ryan) owning another 20%.
Strategic partnerships with Ryan and GroundTruth Exploration, a leader in state-of-the-art exploration programs, give Gander a proven method of discovery in Newfoundland which is ranked the 4th most attractive jurisdiction in the world in terms of mining investment according to the latest Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies.
The team steering Gander Gold includes accomplished managers and board members who have significant experience and success at both senior producer and junior exploration levels including President and CEO Mark Scott who ran Vale Canada’s Manitoba Nickel Division.
Key Drill-Ready Mining Properties
Gander North Project
The 485 sq. km Gander North Project, all virgin territory, is a promising area for new gold discoveries. Geophysical structures stretch east-northeast for approximately 25 km and are overlain by highly anomalous gold and copper-in-soil as determined by two years of Gander Gold sampling (2021 and 2022). Gander North starts 15 km east of New Found Gold’s Keats Zone and has the potential for hosting epithermal and mesothermal-type systems. Shawn Ryan believes Gander North may host an entirely new major gold trend in Newfoundland, not previously recognized due to a lack of visible outcrop. That’s why soil sampling is key, at this and other projects, and GroundTruth’s soil sampling techniques are recognized as the best.
Mt. Peyton Project
The 956 sq. km Mt. Peyton Project is a highly intriguing land package that just like Gander North was never thoroughly investigated until Gander Gold came along. The large egg-shaped Mt. Peyton property is made up of a granite intrusive surrounded by gabbro. Geological speculation is that given the location of the property relative to recent gold discoveries within the Gander Gold Belt that the granite intrusive is a possible “heat engine” which provided an impetus for gold to remobilize in deep-rooted favourable structures. There are two large areas of interest at Mt. Peyton, the Goldenrod Zone in the northwest and the Horseshoe Zone in the southwest.
BLT Project
The BLT Project gives Gander Gold exposure to a largely unexplored section of the Northern Arm Fault, the same fault system that hosts Marathon Gold’s (OTCQX: MGDPF) (TSX: MOZ) multi-million-ounce gold resource to the southwest. The project’s emerging “Islander Zone” gold-in-soil discovery currently measures 1,400 m x 400 m based on 845 samples, with one soil sample returning an astounding 5.94 g/t Au.
Cape Ray II Project
Gander Gold’s Cape Ray II Project is contiguous to one of the world’s highest-grade scenarios for potential open-pit mining – Matador Mining’s (OTCQB: MZZMF) (ASX: MZZ) Cape Ray deposits in the southwest part of Newfoundland. Gander’s Doughball Jog, the largest of three zones at Cape Ray II, covers an area of approximately 30 sq. km. A sigmoidal-like feature defined by a late granitoid intrusive, Doughball Jog is considered very prospective for high-grade gold mineralization that may have accumulated in deformation zones.
Recent News:
Gander Gold Embarks on Groundbreaking Drilling Venture in Newfoundland
In a significant development, Gander Gold has launched its maiden drilling expedition in Newfoundland. This initiative follows two years of systematic groundwork and strategic planning, during which the company has cultivated a robust pipeline of untapped gold properties. These properties, which cover a commanding area of 2,259 sq. km, hold immense promise for the discovery of new high-grade gold deposits.
Noteworthy developments:
- The company has kick-started a comprehensive 70-hole rotary air blast (RAB) drilling program, spanning four major projects. The first project to be drilled is Gander North;
- Gander North and Mt. Peyton are fully permitted for both preliminary RAB drilling and follow-up diamond drilling. BLT and Cape Ray II drill permits are pending;
- In total, across its eight Central Newfoundland Gold Belt projects, Gander has outlined more than 100 linear km of potential strike along which geochemical anomalies are overlain on top of identified geophysical anomalies.
Gander CEO Mark Scott expressed his enthusiasm about the wealth of drill targets that have surfaced from the company’s extensive two-year greenfield exploration program. He’s optimistic about the year ahead, as many of these targets are slated for first-ever drill testing during a buoyant gold market. He’s eager to tap into Gander Gold’s considerable discovery potential in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt and deliver the island’s next major gold discovery.
RAB drilling at Gander North, Mt. Peyton, BLT and Cape Ray II will offer unprecedented insights into the bedrock and structural environments beneath significant soil geochemistry anomalies. The data gleaned from daily XRF measurements and in-hole televiewer will inform the program and help prioritize targets for follow-up diamond drilling. A suite of techniques, including geological mapping, prospecting, ground VLF-Mag geophysical surveys, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, will be employed when required to refine target definition ahead of RAB or diamond drill holes.
RAB drilling has started in the “Viking” area of Gander North where VLF surveys have revealed conductive structures beneath extensive soil anomalies.
Gander Gold Expands Golden Horseshoe Zone at Mount Peyton
Gander Gold has shared an encouraging update on its Mt. Peyton Project in Newfoundland. The project, spanning 956 sq. km, is strategically located between significant gold discoveries by Sokoman Minerals and New Found Gold.
Gander has completed the most extensive grassroots sampling program ever carried out at Mt. Peyton, and this includes nearly 5,000 soil samples in the Golden Horseshoe Zone. Latest results include the highest gold-in-soil values to date at this zone which currently spans approximately 15 km north to south and up to 10 km east to west (150 sq. km).
Golden Horseshoe is interpreted to be a fold hinge defining the western margin of an area of major structural discordance, heightening the probability of gold deposition.
New High-Grade Gold Target at Gander Gold’s Mt. Peyton Project
Gander Gold has identified a new high-grade gold target, the Goldenrod Zone, at its Mt. Peyton Project in Newfoundland. The Goldenrod Zone has generated the highest gold-in-soil results to date at the project, with 67 samples having Au values in the 99th percentile. The zone also shows a positive correlation of Au-in-soil with arsenic-in-soil, a key pathfinder associated with the Moosehead and New Found Gold discoveries. Preliminary interpretation suggests that the Goldenrod Zone is a typical setting for orogenic gold, similar to the Moosehead and New Found Gold’s Queensway Project.
Gander Gold Details Three Large Gold Zones at Cape Ray II Property
Gander Gold has reported promising high-grade gold-in-soil results from its Cape Ray II Project in Newfoundland covering 323 sq. km. Three large zones of interest have been identified – Doughball Jog, Sou’wester, and Cabot.
Cape Ray II is contiguous to Matador Mining’s Cape Ray deposits and occupies deformation zones between two significant tectonic structures, the Long Range/Cabot Fault to the west and the Cape Ray/Valentine Fault to the east. The Cape Ray/Valentine Fault hosts Marathon Gold’s multi-million ounce deposit with initial production planned for 2025.
High-Grade Gold-In-Soils at Gander Gold’s BLT Project
Gander Gold has reported impressive high-grade gold-in-soil results from its 287 sq. km BLT (Botwood-Laurenceton-Thwart Island) Project in Newfoundland. The results are particularly noteworthy from the newly identified “Islander Zone”, which covers a central portion of Thwart Island in the Bay of Exploits.
Key findings include:
- The first-ever soil samples at the BLT Project have defined the “Islander Zone”, wide open for expansion beyond its current 1,400 m x 400 m;
- A sample from the Islander Zone, with 5.94 g/t Au (5,939 ppb), is the highest-grade soil sample result across any of Gander’s eight Newfoundland projects and among the 38,941 total soil samples taken in 2021-2022 (100 ppb Au is considered very high in the context of Newfoundland soils);
- The gold-in-soil zone at Islander coincides with very anomalous arsenic-in-soil, consistently present across the interpreted strike of the Islander Zone.
Gander Finds Multiple Gold Targets Along 25 Km Trend at Gander North
Gander Gold has identified multiple high-priority gold targets for drilling in 2023 at its 485 sq. km Gander North Project in Newfoundland, spanning a 25-km-long east-northeast-trending series of structures. The project has been one of the island’s most comprehensive grassroots gold exploration programs since May 2021, involving airborne geophysical surveys, soil sampling, structural interpretation, and geological mapping.
The soil and rock geochemistry database reveals evidence of anomalous Mo, Cu, and Pb, suggesting the potential for epithermal and mesothermal-type systems within the project area. Among the many C-horizon soil samples collected since 2021, over 1,200 samples (including 72 >100 ppb Au) have shown anomalous to extremely anomalous Au-in-soil associated with identified east-northeast crosscutting structures, indicating a potential gold source (mesothermal) within these structures.
Gander Gold Technical Advisor Shawn Ryan commented that Gander North has been a textbook example of a proven gold discovery methodology, with high gold-in-soils and favorable structure suggesting the presence of an entirely new gold trend east of the GRUB Line.
Hot Summer For Gander Gold?
In conclusion, Gander Gold Corp. (OTCQB: GANDF) (CSE: GAND) has positioned itself as a significant player in the gold mining sector, with a vast portfolio of promising properties in the Gander Gold Belt and the broader Central Newfoundland Gold Belt. The company’s strategic acquisitions, extensive exploration efforts, and partnerships with industry experts have produced an unparalleled pipeline of high-grade gold discovery opportunities in one of the world’s premier mining jurisdictions.
With the current global economic uncertainties, the trend toward record high gold prices, and the need for new high-grade gold deposits, Gander Gold’s value proposition presents a compelling opportunity for investors as did New Found Gold when it became public in 2020. Gander’s recent launch of its maiden drilling program in Newfoundland, along with its plans for further exploration and drilling through the balance of 2023, underscore its commitment to unlocking the full potential of its properties. As Gander Gold continues to evolve, it’s poised to contribute significantly to Newfoundland’s growing importance as a leading resource jurisdiction.
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