Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with 49 Metals (ASX:49M), Chief Executive Officer Phil Carter
Lel Smits: 9Metals is preparing to list on the ASX with a $10 million IPO to advance its highly prospective Nevada gold portfolio. The company’s immediate focus is the drill-ready gold mountain project in the Walker Lane trend, where an 8,000-metre program will target high-grade sulphide gold beneath a broad oxide footprint. 49Metals Chief Executive Officer Phil Carter joins me today to outline the IPO strategy, exploration plans and use of funds.
Phil, welcome to the Stock Network.
Phil Carter: Thanks, Lel. Good to be here.
Lel Smits: Now, you’re listing with a clear focus on high-grade gold discovery at Gold Mountain. What do you think makes the sulphide targets beneath the shallow oxide resource such a compelling opportunity as you commence drilling immediately post-listing?
Phil Carter: Yeah, thanks, Lel. We’re very excited to commence drilling at Gold Mountain.
We’re targeting a deeper sulphide opportunity beneath a broad oxide footprint within a proven epithermal system. Historic exploration confirms gold mineralisation is present and importantly, where sulphides and particular pyrite have been observed on surface, we see a strong association with gold. Now, at surface, much of the sulphide material has been oxidised, which limits what we can see directly.
However, geophysics has identified a 1.2-kilometre-long IP anomaly, which we at 49Metals interpret as potentially representing disseminated sulphides at depth below the oxidisation layer. Now, the key objective of this initial program is to test whether the established gold to pyrite association continues at depth below this oxidation profile. Now, if that relationship holds true, it could represent a meaningful gold opportunity for us at Gold Mountain.
Lel Smits: Fantastic. And, Phil, you’ve raised $10 million at IPO. How will those funds be allocated across Gold Mountain, Cinta and Buffalo Canyon over the next 18 months? And also, when it comes to key milestones, what should investors be looking out for in the year ahead?
Phil Carter: Yeah, Gold Mountain and Cinta will be the main focus initially.
Both projects are only a few kilometres from each other and we see most expenditure in the near term and essentially treated as one project, practically speaking. Now, the immediate milestone post-listing is the commencement of our drilling program at Gold Mountain, as previously talked about. The first holes will test that IP anomaly and we expect initial assay results from those two holes within the second quarter of this year.
Now, beyond the drilling of the IP target, we will target some structurally controlled zones identified in historic exploration where high-grade chutes appear to sit within a broader, lower-grade halo. Now, the objective here is to identify the most prospective structural corridor and advance these towards resource definition.
Lel Smits: Great. Now, as you’ve outlined, there’s multi-project upside here. So, beyond Gold Mountain, how does Cinta and Buffalo Canyon enhance the overall scale and potential of the portfolio, really particularly within multi-million-ounce conceptual targets and also historic gold inventories?
Phil Carter: Yeah, so Cinta provides an early-stage upside with what we believe may be part of the broader epithermal system that hosts Gold Mountain. While it’s effectively greenfields from a modern exploration perspective, there are numerous historic shafts and adits and old workings scattered across the site, which is often a strong indicator in Nevada of being within a gold system.
Now, we do have some limited rock chip samples taken at Cinta. They have grades of up to 19.3 grams per tonne gold, and we are very optimistic on the potential of this project. We just need to get in there and do the early fieldwork and determine the best spot toward our drill rig.
Now, Buffalo Canyon is geologically different from the other two projects, potentially larger in scale, as we interpret this as an intrusion-related gold system extending over several kilometres. It hosts an historic gold unclassified inventory, but given its scale, it will be advanced a bit more methodically over time. We will just try and improve the scale of this project rather than rush in there and just get results.
So together, these projects provide a really strong portfolio diversification and long-term growth beyond just Gold Mountain.
Lel Smits: Well, Phil, I really appreciate the update today, and I’m excited to see you hit the ASX boards in not too long at all.
Phil Carter: Thanks, Lel. Looking forward to it.
Ends