Golden Goliath Resources (CVE:GNG) is looking forward to next year, in anticipation of the first ever diamond drilling program on the Nopalera property in Mexico, with hopes of uncovering a "company-building" gold deposit at the site.
This past year has seen many junior explorers struggle to stay afloat, but Golden Goliath's president, Paul Sorbara, insists that in spite of these challenging conditions, the company still has "several groups currently interested in [its] financing efforts."
Once a financing is completed, exploration on its Nopalera property will continue as planned, he adds in a message to shareholders. This past year, the company conducted a surface exploration program, but drilling was delayed due to financing reasons.
As a result, the gold explorer continued to collect and refine data to define drill targets on the property. It also revisited older data on the La Reforma, San Timoteo and Nueva Union properties in light of the new exploration model generated by the Orisyvo model, a deposit owned by Fresnillo.
Indeed, Nopalera lies adjacent to silver giant Fresnillo's (LON:FRES) Orisyvo discovery, which is currently stated to contain 9.6 million ounces of gold and 13 million ounces of silver.
The junior exploration company is focused on exploring and developing the gold and silver potential of an historic mining camp located in the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains of Mexico.
Unlike most juniors, Golden Goliath controls the heart of an old mining camp that covers an area of 15 by 25 kilometres, with numerous past producing gold and silver mines dating back to the time of the Spanish Empire.
The company is also armed with experienced management.
President Sorbara's career in the Sierra Madre Occidental region began in the 1980s with Cominco Ltd, which was Canada’s largest mining company at that time. He was one of the first Canadians to stake claims in the area after foreign investment rule changes in 1992, through his own private Mexican exploration company, Minera Delta S.A. de C.V. which eventually went public as Golden Goliath.
Sorbara then brought in a Mexican partner, who told him of a mining town dating back to 1735, which had been overlooked by Mexican companies and "met all the criteria" for which he was after.
The Uruachic mining camp lies directly in the centre of the several hundred kilometre trend of important past producers and new discoveries that characterizes the Sierra Madre Occidental.
Golden Goliath also has the support of a major name in the resources space.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM)(TSE:AEM) inked an option agreement in late 2010 for the right to earn a 51 per cent interest inGolden Goliath's Las Bolas/Los Hilos property. Agnico-Eagle is also Golden Goliath's second-largest shareholder, with a stake of just over 9 per cent.
Sorbara says Agnico conducted a diamond drilling program on the property that ended in the fall of this year, but so far, Golden Goliath has not yet received the final report from this work "and we do not yet know how many holes were drilled, the total meters drilled or the assay results from the hole."
"We do know that they have leased or purchased nearby houses and that they were over budget. Those things are encouraging, but nothing really concrete can be said about the results of the program until we have formal notification from AEM," Sorbara says.
Golden Goliath's president also noted in his message some important developments to the company over the past year.
In June, in an article with a local publication, Fresnillo said it had already spent $80 million on its Orisyvo project, and plans to spend another $800 million to bring the property to production stage. The company also said that it plans to directly employ 1,500 people for a minimum mine life of 15 years.
"This will be a big economic gain for the State of Chihuahua and the government, in the spirit of cooperation with Fresnillo started their own major upgrade of local infrastructure.
"The biggest component of this program is the upgrade of the 45 kilometer, single lane, gravel road leading from the Highway to the town of Uruachic. They are turning this access road into a two lane paved highway with concrete bridges, which is a very expensive project," Sorbara highlights.
The upgrade is scheduled to be finished by the middle of next year, which will add value to Golden Goliath's Uruachic area properties by facilitating future development.
Sorbara also took note of Carlos Slim's purchase of the Aurico Resources gold mine, which lies just north of the Uruachic area, in between Agnico Eagle's Pinos Altos mine and Golden Goliath's claims.
"The company believes this is a very significant development as it shows that this area of the Sierra Madre is being recognized as a developing major gold production area. Many believe that Orisyvo will be the largest gold mine in Mexico and Golden Goliath’ Nopalera property lies directly adjacent to it and has very similar geology and alteration."
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