leads pack of emerging Northwestern Ontario gold producers By Kevin Vincent
“Our mandate is pure and simple. To dream big. To colour outside the lines. To use smart science and creativity to unlock the potential of the PureGold Red Lake Mine in Red Lake, Ontario. And become Canada’s next iconic gold company.” Someone hired a creative copywriter. The “next iconic gold company” is on track to pour their first gold bar by the end of this year and nothing, including a serious forest fire in August, or a global pandemic is standing in its way. 2020 has proven to be a watershed year for the PureGold project. The company raised $15 million through a flow-through share financing to help broaden the orebody through exploration. That caught the eye of prolific junior miner investor Eric Sprott, who bought 100% of the offering in June. Sprott’s investment didn’t stop there. His lending company, Sprott Lending Corp., also provided PureGold with a USD$65 million credit package. And with drill numbers like these, no wonder investors are happy.
Drilling results highlights: •46.7 g/t gold over 7.0 metres from drill hole PGU-0118; including193.5 g/t gold over 1.0 metre; •57.0 g/t gold over 1.0 metre from drill hole PGU-0121; •15.8 g/t gold over 2.3 metres from drill hole PGU-0117;
•7.2 g/t gold over 5.0 metres from drill holePGU-0113; including22.3 g/t gold over 1.0 metre; •12.8 g/t gold over 10.0 metres from drill holePGU-0136; including20.1 g/t gold over 5.0 metres; •9.3 g/t gold over 2.4 metres from drill hole PGU-0123; including16.2 g/t gold over 1.1 metres; and •10.6 g/t gold over 2.0 metres from drill hole PGU-0124
Investors also quickly committed to more than $13 million in share warrants in mid-2020 which meant the company was fully funded as it marches toward 4th quarter production. In August, Sprott wasn’t the only investor expressing their faith in Pure Gold’s project. Anglogold Ashanti stepped up with $5 million. “Anglogold Ashanti have once again demonstrated their strong support of PureGold as we complete construction and prepare for first gold pour at our PureGold Mine,” said Darin Labrenz, President and CEO. “This latest investment increases their shareholding in PureGold to 16%, maintaining their position as our single largest shareholder. As one of the cornerstone investors in PureGold, Anglogold Ashanti have supported us through all phases of the development of our PureGold Mine, from discovery to near term production. We would like to thank Anglogold Ashanti for being a key part of the PureGold story and for
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sharing our vision for discovery, resource growth and building a longlife growth company in the Red Lake mining district.” In an interview with Mining Life, President and CEO Darin Labrenz said the company is on track for first production by the end of the year. “It’s certainly an exciting time for PureGold. We have a lot of work to do here in the tail-end but from a scheduling perspective, things are looking pretty solid on that front.” “Our target is for first ore delivery to the mill by December 1st,” said Labrenz. “This is a brown field site so it comes with an existing underground and an existing development plant and all the ancillary facilities associated with that so, most of the work is replacing older equipment with newer equipment and getting ready to be back in production.” As for their first gold bar, Labrenz says the company is hoping it will happen before Christmas, ideally by mid-December. Labrenz says the company has done well when it comes to hiring. The operational management team is in place and now the company is starting to fill out the workforce who will work under that team. “Certainly when you look at northwestern Ontario and Red Lake in particular, there’s a lot of companies who are taking on people whose work has been retrenched over the Cont’d on pg. 48
