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Valuation Commentary: Puma Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: PUMA) (US Listing: PUXPF) (Frankfurt: 4P8A) is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company focused on advancing its Williams Brook Gold Property in New Brunswick, located in the same prolific geological setting as major Atlantic success stories such as Marathon Gold and New Found Gold. Since acquiring the project in March-2020, Puma has quickly gone from virgin/grassroots ground (finding anomalous sampling in the woods) to clearing, trenching and stripping clean to expose large swaths of a 750 m long patchwork of gold laden rhyolitic bedrock (named the O'Neil Gold Trend) proximal a contact zone that runs even much longer (many kilometres) within its claim boundaries. Puma commenced a new 10,000 m drill program this January 2022 in an area where quartz veining surface samples have yielded high-grades.
On April 28, 2022 Puma provided an update on its 10,000 m drill program -- see "Puma Exploration Drills a New High-Grade Zone of 34.93 g/t Gold Over 3.00m Within a 16.90m Intercept Grading 6.47 g/t Gold at Williams Brook", providing results on the first 19 holes for 2,389 metres of the ongoing 10,000 metres 2022 drilling campaign. To date, 37 holes have been drilled in this first phase of drilling for a total of approximately 4,300 metres. Assay results are pending for an additional 2,000 metres of core already sent to the laboratory. (also see March 22, 2022 "Puma Exploration Reports up to 121.50 g/t Gold in Grab Samples* From Last 2021 Surface Exploration Results", and February 22, 2022 “Puma Exploration Provides Update on Current Drilling Program, Reports Impressive Quartz Veining and Breccia in Core”) – the drill program is progressing very well and excitement runs high as systematic drilling continues toward the O’Neil Gold Zone, located 250 meters southwest of the Lynx Gold zone, targeting the contact between the sediments and the rhyolite.
Puma’s technical team estimates that the 10,000 meters drilling campaign will be completed in June, after which the 2022 field exploration program will begin over the entire property.
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ President and CEO of PUMA Exploration, Marcel Robillard discusses the advancement of the Williams Brook Gold Project entering May-2022:
Takeaways / notes from the above interview:
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Excitement runs high for continued discovery of significance: In 2021 Puma drilled 2,360 meters (18 holes); discovery hole WB21-02, announced on September 2021, cut 5.55 g/t Au over 50.15 meters from surface, including 9.88 g/t Au over 8.60 meters and 46.94 g/t Au over 3.85 meters. The first drill holes reported show there is solid correlation between surface samples and core, presenting tremendous opportunity for investors looking to be part of a story in its early days. Puma's structural model at O'Neil Gold Trend is that of a ~N260 oriented high-grade gold bearing quartz veins network open on both side and at depth. The continued discovery of high-grade gold veins at surface bodes well for Puma's 2022 prospects at the Williams Brook Gold Property; e.g. see...
● March 22, 2022 Puma Exploration Reports up to 121.50 g/t Gold in Grab Samples* From Last 2021 Surface Exploration Results,
● Jan. 27, 2022 Puma Exploration Reports Up to 371 G/T Gold in Surface Rock Samples*,
● Jan. 12, 2022 Puma Exploration Launches Its 2022 Exploration Program and Announces up to 51.70 G/T Gold in Surface Grab Samples*,
● Dec. 8, 2021 Puma Exploration Discovers Large Quartz Veins at Surface With Visible Gold,
● Nov. 17, 2021 Puma Extends Mineralised Zone With High-Grade Samples up to 46,8 g/t Au (discovering 9 new gold bearing quartz veins, described as a "swarm of 1-5 meters thick quartz veins and veinlets extending 275 meters northeast of the Lynx Gold Zone"),
● Nov. 4, 2021 New Visible Gold-Bearing Zone,
● Oct. 14, 2021 More High-Grade Gold Veins with up to 199 g/t* Au from Surface Sampling.
The second round of drill results in 2021 (holes 6 - 12 announced October 21, 2021) extended the gold mineralised zone beyond the rhyolite into the sediments. The third round of drill results (holes 13 - 18 announced November 11, 2021) yielded 5.11 g/t Au over 8.35 Meters within a Broader Zone Grading 0.82 g/t Au over 78.75 Meters. The prevalence of high-grade surface sampling on the O'Neil Gold Trend identified to date, coupled with the results from the first 18 drill holes, outlines what independent outside observers such as Dr. Quinton Hennigh are describing now as "almost the size of an opencast mine at this point". Dr. Hennigh believes Williams Brook is going to prove to be a significant discovery over the course of the next year or two and sees similarities to other highly successful deposits he has encountered in his career that have gone on to be many millions of ounces.
Figure 1b. (above) -- Lynx Zone Discovery Hole on O'Neil Gold Trend at Williams Brook Gold Project (5.55 g/t Au over 50.15 meters from surface, including 9.88 g/t Au over 8.60 meters and 46.94 g/t Au over 3.85 meters.); on the right is a trench photo with clean bedrock and the drill positioned, the drill hole path (subsurface) is annotated in yellow. The grab samples on the left correspond to what was found on surface and next to that image is the drill core that was unearthed below -- there is an excellent correlation which bodes well for the exploration model going forward.
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Aside -- Additionally important time-sensitive note:
Investors in PUMA.V now will be the beneficiary of a dividend spin-off of the company's copper assets; Puma was recently able to acquire some of the most prospective gold exploration ground in New Brunswick due in-part to its unique insight from having a 15 year history in the Bathurst camp of New Brunswick as a base metal exploration company. With the focus now on gold, the company will be spinning-off its copper assets, see related July 6, 2021 news "Creation of a New Active Player for Copper Exploration and Development in New Brunswick, Canada"; essentially PUMA.V is selling all its base metal projects into a new shell (Melius Capital 3 Corp.). Puma's technical team will continue to do the work, have representation on the BOD, and also shareholders of record of PUMA (date still to be set, but expected imminently) will receive a dividend of the new spin-off. The payment(s) to Puma are payable by the issuance of an initial allotment of Melius shares of which a significant portion will be distributed to Puma's shareholders in H1-2022 . The remaining payments to Puma are payable in cash or in Melius shares over a period of 3 years. See related November 25, 2021 copper spin-out news "Puma Exploration Updates on Copper Transaction With Melius Metals", and February 14, 2022 "Puma Exploration Announces Virtual Extraordinary Meeting of Shareholders and Gives Update on Distribution of Melius Metals Securities". The Chester Property will be the flagship with an established resource from 2014 that appears ready for sizeable upgrade.
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Williams Brook Gold Property, New Brunswick, Canada -- PUMA.V (100% interest to earn)
10,000 m drill program begun January 2022 -- O’NEIL GOLD TREND DRILLING PROGRAM
First Priority target areas of the O’Neil Gold Trend:
Figure 1c. (above) First Priority Targets - source: 2022 Exploration Strategy news release December 21, 2021] The first three (3) priority areas include:
Figure 1.d (above) - 2022 Exploration
strategy and planned programs; The 2022 exploration program will
strategically target three (3) project areas, each with specific
tasks and objectives.
Figure 1.e (above) - Property-scale
exploration insight: First Priority target areas over the entire
Williams Brook property. Following current interpretation and
modelization, the summer 2022 exploration program will include
property-scale exploration targeting the most prospective areas
identified by the 2021 exploration programs and surveys.
Property-scale, VTEM, Mag, and Radiometric surveys over the entire
Williams Brook Property in addition to surface exploration and
highlighted several prospective areas within the 20,000 hectares
land package. During the first quarter of 2022, Puma will generate
more advanced exploration targets, including trenching and stripping
(see figure 3). To date, three (3) priority areas have been
identified: ● the entire 7 km length of the O’Neil Gold trend; ● the
Williams 1 and Williams 2 gold trends; and, ● the Ramsay Brook area.
The objective of the summer exploration program at the
property-scale will be to identify promising targets for an
additional fully-funded 5,000 metres drilling program to be launched
in the fall.
[Youtube - running time 56 second] ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Below is additional insight into the Williams Brook property as to why excitement runs high:
Figure 1.e (above) from November 17, 2021 news release "Puma Extends Mineralised Zone With High-Grade Samples up to 46,8 g/t Au, Increasing Gold Potential at the Williams Brook Gold Property". The ongoing systematical stripping, mapping and sampling program along the OGT permitted to identify a swarm of 1-5 meters thick quartz veins and veinlets extending 275 meters northeast of the Lynx Gold Zone; On November 17, 2021 Puma announce the discovery of nine (9) new gold-bearing quartz veins along the O’Neil Gold Trend and reports surface samples grading up to 46.8 g/t Au, extending the gold mineralised corridor over a continuous distance of 275 meters.
Figure 2. (above) -- Lynx Zone stripped, on O'Neil Gold Trend at Williams Brook Gold Property. The property is on Crown land. Big trenches were dug to expose bedrock, and the area was washed clean in order to decipher what was going on. Spectacular samples are being gathered at surface along the O'Neil Gold Trend in various zones. The first drilling concentrated on the Lynx Zone in a 100 m x 200 m area in order to establish a structural understanding of veins and direction. The geological team needed to do close spacing holes at first to understand the system and then apply it to the entire trend. Many of the techniques and much of the know-how applicable at Williams Brook is taken from what has already been proven for other Atlantic success stories in the same geological setting -- the ultimate goal is to replicate what Marathon Gold managed to do on its property with several open pits and having the option to go underground later. Puma has 750 m of mineralized rhyolite flow identified to explore on the O'Neil Gold Trend alone to start.
Puma's Discovery Model: Prospectors look for indicators at surface of new zones to be discovered, once prospective zones are identified trenches are used to locate the rhyolite, then if rhyolite sampling confirms gold the localized area is stripped and drilled for discovery.
Location
Figure 3. (above) Location Map of Puma Exploration's main assets in New Brunswick -- Excellent infrastructure in a mining-friendly jurisdiction. The properties have quality land accessibility through ground, air and rail; the road intersecting Williams Brook is a provincial highway that runs ~5 km from where Puma is currently drilling. No need for expensive remote camps; exploration crews can stay in a hotel in nearby Saint Quentin, a 20 minute drive away. Mining infrastructure is already in place with full seaport access, and there is an accommodative and reliable government whose policies reflect a mining-friendly focus. There is a local skilled labour force who understand the trade. Puma Exploration has a MOU signed with local First Nations, whom are pro-mining and currently in business running ore transport on contract for the nearby Chester Mine.
Geological setting
Figure 4. (above) -- Geological setting in the Canadian Appalachians. The Dunnage and Gander Zones are a group of ancient rocks that were squeezed up during coalitional events eons ago when North America, Europe, and Africa were all forced together. This belt of rocks has yielded other noteworthy gold discoveries; e.g. Marathon Gold (Valentine Lake), Newfound Gold (Queensway), Galway Metals (Clarence Stream), First Mining (Hope Brook), Anaconda Mining (Pine Cove), Atlantic Gold (Moose River Mine).
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Click here to go to the ~55 min. 23 sec. mark of February 25, 2022 video where Dr. Hennigh discusses the exciting progress Puma Exploration is making:
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Figure 6. (above) -- Claims map of Williams Brook Gold Project; 20,662 ha shown above (total has recently increased to 29, 522 ha). The O'Neil Gold Trend (annotated in red) is where current exploration efforts are underway. There are two other parallel gold trends (WB1GT & WB2GT) that have yet to be explored by Puma. Puma announced on March 1, 2022 that it had added another 7,443 ha to the land package for a total of 29,522 ha, see the related news release "Puma Exploration Signs Strategic Land Package Agreement to Extend Its Williams Brook Gold Property".
O'Neil Gold Trend
Figure 7. (above) -- O'Neil Gold Trend (OGT). Image from September 2021 Corporate Presentation (lots has occurred since) -- Seen above are the zones of the OGT; O'Neil, Pepitos, Chubby, & Moose.
Spectacular samples taken along the O'Neil Gold Trend
Figure 8a. (above) -- Select mineralization surface samples from various zones of the O'Neil Gold Trend.
High-Grade Selected Grab Samples Assays on
the Prolific O’Neil Gold Trend (OGT): ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
New Visible Gold-Bearing Zone discovered between Chubby and Moose
The area between Chubby and Moose was cleared this Summer and Fall 2021 revealing numerous gold-bearing quartz veins coincides with a sudden change in the direction of the rhyolite/sediment contact (as predicted by the geological team's structural model).
See related November 4, 2021 news release Puma Exploration Discovers New Visible Gold-Bearing Zone at Williams Brook Gold Property;
Figure 8b. (above) -- New gold zone highlighted ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
Figure 9. (above) --Vein sets found on O'Neil Gold Trend -- Basically Puma has 3 sets of veins; some steep ones, some horizontal ones, and some parallel. Puma now has an improved understanding of what sections to avoid and how to orientate drills to maximize intercepts. The analysis of Puma's rock seen in the image above is from Terrane Geoscience Inc. which has done a lot of work for Marathon Gold.
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SUMMARY OF THE INAUGURAL
DRILLING PROGRAM AT WILLIAMS BROOK:
Figure 10. (above) -- Close-up of O'Neil Gold Trend - and some noteworthy drill hole intercepts annotated.
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ A closer look at each hole to date:
The first 6 holes (announced September 15, 2021):
Figure 11a. (above) -- Highlights ; see related press release here.
Significant positive observations from the
initial drilling results in 2021:
Significant mineralized and altered
thickness intersected:
The high-grade surface mineralization
is extending at depth:
The gold mineralisation is extending
in the sediments:
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The following is a synopsis of the second round of drill holes released on October 21, 2021 (holes 7 - 12):
HIGHLIGHTS
Marcel Robillard, President and CEO, stated: “We are pleased to confirm that the significant high grade gold intercepts are not limited to the altered rhyolite but also extend into the sediments. It is in line with our structural model of a N260 oriented high-grade gold bearing quartz veins network open on both side and at depth. So far, results are impressive for a first initial 2,300 meters drilling campaign and needless to say that we can’t wait to launch the planned 10,000m soon!”
Table 1. (below) Significant Drill Results for WB21-06 to WB21-12*
Table 2. (below) Technical Informations About the Drill Holes Released
* Stated lengths in meters are downhole core lengths and not true widths. True widths will be calculated once more drilling confirms the geometry of the quartz-sulphide system.
Figure 11b. (above) Map of the Lynx Zone Drill Results from October 21, 2021 news release ------ ------ ------
The following is a synopsis of the third round of drill holes released on November 11, 2021 (holes 13 - 18):
* Stated lengths in meters are downhole core lengths and not true widths. True widths will be calculated once more drilling confirms the geometry of the quartz-sulphide system. ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
2022 drill results to date (source April 28, 2022 news release):
Table 1: Assay result highlights from reported holes
Table 1. Assay result highlights from reported holes (continued)
*Stated lengths in
metres are downhole core lengths and not true widths. Table 2: Coordinates and length of reported drill holes
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Looking at the bigger potential. VTEM shows there is lots of unexplored ground:
Figure 12. (above) -- Detailed VTEM Airborne Survey Showing Distinct Magnetic Signature. The geophysics show the low mag./high mag. contact; Puma has only explored a small piece of a large belt.
Figure 13. (above) -- The other two gold trends at Willams Brook are yet to be explored by Puma; Williams Brook 1 Gold Trend (WB1GT) and Williams Brook 2 Gold Trend (WB2GT). Back in 2008 a past operator drilled 54 g/t over 2.8 m and they encountered some excellent trenching values. All the gold trends are parallel structures, there are likely more to be found. The only question is how big is this going to get.
Figure 14. (above) -- Numerous gold occurrences throughout Puma's claim blocks. ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------
Below is a listing of recent Company news, and CV's of key people.
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*Content found herein is not investment advice see Terms of Use, Disclosure & Disclaimer. This is a journalistic article and the author is not a registered securities advisor, and opinions expressed should not be considered as investment advice to buy or sell securities, but rather journalistic opinion only. Technical mining terms used by the writer may be used/expressed in simplified layman terms and should not be relied upon as appropriate for making investment decisions unless the reader contacts the company directly for independent verification. *Estimates of potential made by the mining analyst and journal(s) are non 43-101 and not from the Company.
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