Gold Explorer Doubles Project Through Claims in Nevada

Getchell Gold Corp. (GTCH:CSE; GGLDF:OTCQB) announced it has increased the size of its flagship Fondaway Canyon project in Nevada by 50% through staking.

After staking an additional 75 claims of 600 hectares, the claim group now totals 246 claims over 1,785 hectares, spanning 7 kilometers to the east and west and 3 kilometers north to south, the company said.

"Getchell is delineating a potential Tier 1 gold resource at its flagship Fondaway Canyon gold project," the company said in a release. "Following three consecutive successful drilling programs, the company has effectively doubled the size of the historic resource, firmly placing Fondaway Canyon amongst the foremost developing projects in a world-class mining jurisdiction."

Getchell said the expanded claims give it sole control over the Fondaway Canyon gold corridor, room to expand the mineral resource and conceptual open pits, and room to support the infrastructure required for future development.

GGM Advisory's Michael Ballanger has been following the company for quite some time. In September, he predicted a catalyst that would "drive investors" to Getchell would be a "breakout in the underlying commodity price . . . Gold at US$2,350 will be a huge shot of adrenaline for all junior gold players, but it will be the developers with proven, high-grade ounces (like Fondaway) that will get all of the early money."

GGM Advisory's Michael Ballanger wrote, "Once Getchell gets the money to secure Fondaway, I expect it to be back on top." 

Gold hasn't gotten quite that high, but prices did hit a new intraday high early on Monday when most active gold futures spiked to hit US$2,152.30 a troy ounce during Asian trading, The Wall Street Journal reported. The precious metal also notched an all-time settling high of US$2,089.70 a troy ounce on Friday.

This prompted Ballanger to note on Monday that there would be "champagne and caviar days all around."

"Over this weekend, champagne corks will be popped, and balloons will float to the sky in celebration of the all-time high print in gold prices, eclipsing at the very least the highs of August 2020," he wrote.

The Catalyst: Resource Doubled

Getchell has doubled the size of the historic resource at the site following three drilling campaigns.

It recently published its first mineral resource estimate at Fondaway Canyon, which highlighted an inferred mineral resource of 38.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 grams per tonne gold (Au) for 1,509,100 ounces of gold and an indicated mineral resource of 11.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.56 g/t Au for an additional 550,800 ounces of gold.

Newsletter writer Rick Mills of Ahead of the Herd noted the gold market's rise is due to intensifying global conflicts and uncertainty.

Gold mineralization is at and near surface, supporting an open-pit mine model, the estimate noted, and "strong gold mineralization in the most peripheral drill holes leaves the mineral resources open in most directions for further expansion and indicates a substantially larger body of mineralization than delineated to date."

Getchell has a fully permitted drill program designed to expand the mineral resources and upgrade the inferred resource, and said it is well positioned to continue expanding the mineral resource estimate and advancing toward a preliminary economic assessment.

Analyst Expects Co. 'Back on Top'

Ballanger noted that when he made his prediction about gold prices being a catalyst, he had been writing more about the "electrification movement," with explorers looking for lithium, cobalt, and other elements important to the clean energy transition.

But he continued to hold Getchell.

"Call it 'misplaced loyalty' or stubborn blindness,' but selling GTCH/GGLDF at under US$9.00 per ounce for a two-million-ounce discovery in highly favored Nevada is a move I simply cannot make," he wrote at the time.

"Once Getchell gets the money to secure Fondaway, I expect it to be back on top," he wrote.

Newsletter writer Rick Mills of Ahead of the Herd noted the gold market's rise is due to intensifying global conflicts and uncertainty.

There is a significant gap between supply and demand for the yellow metal, Rick Mills wrote in Ahead of the Herd. 

"Even though major gold miners are high grading their reserves, mining all the best gold and leaving the rest, they still didn't manage to satisfy global demand for the precious metal, not even close," Mills wrote.

Gold has long been "considered a safe-haven asset for retaining its value throughout history" during market uncertainty, Forbes wrote in "Why Gold Is a Good Investment Right Now" in May. 

And According to a recent Gallup poll, about one-quarter of Americans think gold is the best asset to invest in long-term, its highest level in more than a decade.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to Reuters, strategic entities own 0.81% of the company; the rest is retail.

Top shareholders include William Wagener with 0.65%, Scott Frostad with 0.12%, Jerome Bella with 0.02%, and Michael Sieb with 0.02%, Reuters said.

The company has a market cap of CA$11.8 million with 111.97 million shares outstanding, 111.06 of them free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.54 and CA$0.085.

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1. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Getchell Gold Corp.
2. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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