Following the latest Update from Greatland Gold (LON:GGP) concerning its exploration and development progress at its Havieron Project, Canaccord Genuity has maintained its Speculative Buy rating on the £369m capitalised company’s shares.
Their analyst Alexander Bedwany has a Target Price of 20p a share, compared to the 7.15p market price.
The flagship gold-copper project located in the Paterson Province in Western Australia is a Joint Venture with Australia’s leading gold producer Newcrest Mining – with Greatland having a 30% interest.
MD Shaun Day, who has recently been hosting a number of investor presentations on the group’s European Roadshow, stated that:
"The Havieron team continues to deliver strong results at the project. Total development has now surpassed 1,850m and pleasingly, decline development is continuing ahead of the current schedule.
Our most recent drilling activities highlight the potential of high grade mineralisation outside the Southeast Crescent which could add significant value to the mine plan at Havieron with additional gold and copper mineralisation intersected at the Northern and Eastern Breccia zones."
Drilling Update
Improved geotechnical conditions have enabled increased productivity resulting in development outperforming the current schedule by 10%.
The main decline continues to progress ahead of the current schedule having surpassed 1,520m. Decline support excavations for ventilation, services and materials handling takes the total development to over 1,850m.
The total advance is 10% ahead of the current schedule due to improved geotechnical conditions and the ongoing focus on productivity improvements.
Drilling activities at Havieron recommenced at the beginning of February 2023 with three drill rigs onsite and four holes completed for a total of 5,214m. This most recent drilling takes the total drilling at the project to 331 holes for 293,878m.
The drilling confirms the presence of high-grade gold and copper mineralisation outside the current Mineral Resource with recent results including:
- Northern Breccia: 29.9m @ 3.9g/t Au and 0.01% Cu from 945.1m
- Eastern Breccia: 57m @ 2.1g/t Au and 0.19% Cu from 1,262m
Analyst Opinion – more gold on the way
Canaccord Genuity has the view that the continued release of high-grade results suggests that a significant resource increase is likely later this year.
It also notes that no deal has, as yet, been agreed for GGP to sell off its Havieron stake to Newcrest Mining, the latter currently being bid for by Newmont.
Conclusion – cheap Aussie gold buy?
The shares, at 7.15p, have hardly responded to the good news, leaving investors with an attractive buying opportunity if they wish to play in the Australian gold scene.