Mining Company Discovers Gold-Rich Silica in Japanese Deposit

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Irving Resources Inc. (IRV:CSE; IRVRF:OTCQX) announced that its first ever shallow-angle diamond core hole drilled at its Omui Mining License in Japan encountered a 101.1-meter-wide intercept of silicified rocks grading 1.14 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au), 16 g/t silver (Ag), and 84% silica.

In November 2024, Irving entered into an option agreement with JX Advanced Metals Corp. whereby JX Metals may earn an interest in certain of Irving's properties in Omu, Hokkaido, focusing on precious metal-bearing silica deposits.

The intercepts from holed 24OMI-001 also included 2 meters of 7.19 g/t Au, 52.64 g/t Ag, and 80.9% silica, the company said.

"Given the shallow angle of hole 24OMI-001, the end of this hole is a mere 35 meters below surface,” said Irving Director and technical advisor Quinton Hennigh. "This drill hole provides the first confirmation of extensive gold-rich silicified rocks near-surface at Omui. Although more shallow drilling will soon be conducted in other areas across the property, Irving and earn-in partner, JX Advanced Metals Corporation, consider this a very promising start."

Having a large volume of near-surface gold-rich silicified rocks at Omui could complement the company's efforts to develop a silica body at Omu Sinter, just a few kilometers away, Hennigh said.

"We are seeing a very strong case for a significant precious metal-rich smelter flux production center at the Omu gold project," he said.

Other intercepts from hole 24OMI-001 include 8.4 meters of 1.53 g/t Au, 5.13 g/t Ag, and 90.6% silica; 13 meters of 1.39 g/t Au, 8.5 g/t Ag, and 85.8% silica, 14.9 meters of 1.57 Au, 22.55 g/t Ag, and 83.8% silica; 8 meters of 1.31 g/t Au, 16.97 g/t Ag, and 81.3% silica; and 2 meters of 1.25 g/t Au, 47.2 g/t Ag, and 86% silica.

There are no other holes in the immediate area of 24OMI-001, but "based upon the pervasive nature of silicification observed in this interval, Irving believes there could be significant potential to find larger volumes of gold-rich silica in this area," the company said in a release.

Current work at Omu is focused on the vision to make it into a new source of gold-bearing silica smelter flux. During 2025, JX and Irving plan to drill an additional four such holes testing more parts of Omui for shallow silicification and veins, Irving said. Drilling is expected to commence in late May.

If the results are favorable, Irving said it and JX plan to advance Omui alongside the Omu Sinter project to evaluate the potential for creating a new domestic Au-rich smelter flux production center that is capable of providing significant quantities of silica flux to numerous base metal smelters scattered across Japan.

Further Drilling Expected at East Yamagano

At the company's joint venture (JV) with Newmont Corp. (NEM:NYSE) and Sumitomo Corp. (8053:TKY; SSUMF:OTCPK) at East Yamagano, Irving initiated drilling its third diamond drill hole at the project in the fourth quarter of 2024. Hole 24SY-002 was a south-oriented 702.1-meter-deep drill hole inclined at -70 degrees designed to test a steeply oriented electrically resistive zone evident in MT data. It was completed in the middle of February.

Although this hole did not encounter any high-grade veins, several broad zones of silicification and anomalous levels of gold, generally ranging between 0.1 and 1 g/t Au, were intersected between 226-278 meters, 292-314 meters, 409-442 meters, and 623-648 meters, Irving said.

The highest-grade individual vein that was intersected ran 1.9 g/t Au over 0.86 meters starting at 226.36 meters, according to the company. Results from 24SY-002 are notably lower grade than those encountered in nearby hole 23SY-001, a north-directed drill hole that crossed the same resistive feature being tested by 24SY-002. Hole 23SY-001 encountered a stockwork vein zone grading 9.6 g/t Au over 5 meters that is positioned inside the resistive feature.

"Irving believes that further drilling across this resistive zone is warranted to better ascertain the orientation of the high-grade vein encountered in hole 23SY-001," the company said.

Four weeks ago, Irving commenced drilling hole 25SY-001, a -82-degree southerly inclined hole collar ed approximately 350 meters northeast of 24SY-002. It is currently at a depth of about 660 meters and is targeting a final depth of 800 meters, the company said. It is anticipated that two drill holes will be completed by mid-2025. Permitting for at least six more holds is underway, the company said. They will be drilled after mid-year, pending approvals.

Expert: Stock Undervalued

The Canadian explorer has backing from several majors going after gold and silver in Japan —  Newmont owns nearly 1/5 of the company. The country is known for some of the highest-grade gold mines in the world with dozens of past-producing epithermal mines.

"So, the largest mining companies are very interested in Japan," said Chen Lin, author of the What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? newsletter.

Brian Leni of Junior Stock Review said he believed the stock "spells opportunity."

"In my view, Irving is selling for less than it's worth, considering the potential upside of discovery at its Yamagano project. Not only that, but this junior company is exploring Yamagano" with Newmont Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. (8053:TKY; SSUMF:OTCPK), Leni wrote for Streetwise Reports in November.

"When it comes to Irving, I have long seen the potential of their project portfolio," Leni wrote. "Visiting Yamagano and Omu in person and meeting the technical team that is executing the exploration work has only further solidified that potential in my mind. To me, Yamagano holds the key to garnering frothy market attention once again . . . I clearly see that there will be a steady stream of project development across Japan moving out into the future."

In a post on his website in March, Analyst Jayant Bhandari said he and his clients have been long-term investors in the company.

"The designated areas within this agreement are progressing toward becoming mines, primarily for silica with gold credits," he said of Omu. "High-grade silica from Omu is expected to be in strong demand."

Bhandari continued, "IRV has stagnated for several months while similar companies have moved up," he said. "I prefer to invest when others aren't paying attention."

The Catalyst: Gold Bulls Still Running

Gold futures prices were strongly higher in early U.S. trading Monday on more safe-haven demand, according to Jim Wyckoff writing for Kitco. June gold was last up $81.30 at $3,324.60.

The Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision is also coming on Wednesday afternoon. No change in U.S. monetary policy is expected at this week’s FOMC meeting that begins Tuesday morning.

Writing for CBS Money Watch, Aly J. Yale noted that experts did not see gold's overall bull market failing anytime soon. 

"While there is likely a ceiling for gold prices at some point in the future, many experts are predicting further growth in the near term. But just how high could they climb? Could gold prices reach the $4,000 price point?" Yale asked. 

According to an April 10 post on Goldfix, Goldman Sachs revised raised the upper boundary of its forecast range for gold for the end of the year to US$3,520 an ounce and even introduced a "tall-risk scenario" as high as US$4,500 an ounce.

"The revision stems primarily from upside surprises in ETF inflows and persistent, large-scale central bank gold purchases," the article noted.

Ownership and Share Structure

The company said management and directors own about 9.3%, and strategic investors Newmont and Sumitomo own 19.2% and 5.2%, respectively.

Yahoo! Finance said about 1% is owned by institutions. The rest is retail.

According to Refinitiv, top insiders include President and Chief Executive Officer Akiko Levinson with 4.84% and Hennigh with 3.05%.

Irving Resources has a market cap of CA$16.49 million with 76.69 million shares outstanding. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.19 and CA$0.48.