Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO of Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PX; OTC PINK: PGXPF) Discusses Drilling Program in Ghana, Expanding the Current Gold Resource and Drilling at Dome West in Timmins, Ontario, Canada.

By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 12/17/2021
We spoke with Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO of Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV: PX; OTC PINK: PGXPF), a gold exploration company, focused on Ghana, West Africa, and Canada. Pelangio recently announced the initial results from its planned 3,700-meter drill program, at the Pokukrom West deposit, at their large Manfo property in Ghana, aimed at expanding the current gold resource and testing for an extension of the mineralization down plunge. Two diamond drill holes, totaling 383.2 meters, completed at Pokukrom West, returned 3.81 g/t gold over 15 meters including 5.65 g/t gold over 7 meters in Hole 1 and 3.19 g/t gold, over 12 meters, including 6.85 g/t gold over 3 meters in Hole 2, effectively discovering a new lode of mineralization, which is open further down-plunge and along strike to the North.

Pelangio Exploration Inc.

Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-Chief of Metals News, talking with Ingrid Hibbard, who is President and CEO of Pelangio Exploration. Ingrid, you've had some exciting results, drilling in Ghana, we'd like you to tell us about that. You also have great exploration plans for your properties in Canada and I’d like you to discuss that and update our readers/investors on what's happening at Pelangio.

Ingrid Hibbard: We announced the partial results for two holes, which are part of a larger planned program of some 3,700 meters, which is designed to test for resource expansion at our Manfo property in Ghana, around two of the areas included in our resource, Pokukrom East and West, as well as explore in the vicinity for new discoveries and possible extensions to the known resource in order to expand that gold resource. Just to put it into perspective a little bit, Manfo is a large property, it's 100 square kilometers and it's on the very prolific Sefwi Belt in Ghana, which hosts some 33 gold deposits, two of which are owned by Newmont.

Newmont has their Ahafo mine, some 20 kilometers from our project, and they recently expanded the mill there. Even more recently, they've made a go-forward decision on their Ahafo North Project. There's a lot of activity in the region. There's one mill, close by, and another mill being built by Newmont. It's a great place to be working and a great place to be looking. We currently have a resource there comprised of mineralization from Pokukrom East and Pokukrom West, of 195,000 ounces at 1.5 grams, in the indicated category and 298,000 ounces at about a gram, in the inferred category.

It's hosted in an altered granite rock, a style similar to Newmont's very large Subika deposit, at their Ahafo Mine. We had not been active on the ground in recent years but began to revisit it in 2020 with a small soil sampling program to fill in some gaps. We were busy going through the historical data, compiling, reanalyzing, and looking to generate multiple opportunities to grow the project, with the drill bit. That resulted in this planned program that we've just started.

We have 3,700 meters planned of diamond drilling and an additional 6,700 meters of air core drilling to test 20 targets. These two holes are just the start of a much bigger planned program to come. These initial results are quite exciting. These two holes were planned to see what the chances were to increase the resource, particularly at the high-grade area. There are two areas; Pokukrom East, which is larger in area, but lower grade and Pokukrom West, which is smaller but much higher grade.

The first hole was put in to help us gain a better understanding of the structural controls on the mineralization, so we used oriented core and we're doing detailed structural logging of the core. That is not entirely completed yet, so we're still working on that, but we did come up with two very interesting intervals. The first hole, which was drilled in an area around existing holes, came up with 3.81 grams over 15 meters, including 5.65 grams over 7 meters, so it was a great hole. It was comparable to a historical hole nearby, but better than several adjacent holes. This suggests to us that the overall grade at Pokukrom West could be enhanced further. Having an area of a smaller, high-grade resource section that looks now like it has the potential to grow is significant for the project as a whole.

Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent! It sounds like an exciting time for Pelangio stakeholders and shareholders.

Ingrid Hibbard: Absolutely. That was being done, so we could get a better understanding. Then we took a bit of a chance, and we did a step out hole, which was 175 meters down plunge, so it was a significant step out. We thought that the Pokukrom West deposit was cut off and this step out took us out beyond where it looks like it may have been cut off. We intercepted a very encouraging 3.19 over 12 meters, including 6.85 over 3 meters. What that means is we have effectively discovered a new lode of mineralization down plunge of the original load in the Pokukrom West deposit, and it really does show the potential to open the Pokukrom West for additions to the resource with further drilling.

Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. That's very encouraging news.

Ingrid Hibbard: Very encouraging! We're quite excited about it. We recognize this is only one hole, however, the mineralization does remain open-ended down plunge, along strike to the north, and on strike to the south. So there really is room to grow this, at least at shallow oxide depths, where some of our past highest grade drill intercepts are. That would significantly enhance the project as the results there are in shallow oxide, which is essentially free digging.

Dr. Allen Alper: That’s very good.

Ingrid Hibbard: Why only two holes? The first two holes were to get us oriented and get started. The results of this small program have given us much more confidence in the potential to expand our resource through drilling. This program itself may not add much initially to our resource, but it's going to demonstrate the potential for that resource to grow.

Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. What are your plans going forward for 2022?

Ingrid Hibbard: We're going to continue. Those two holes are part of 3,700 meters of diamond drilling, designed to expand both the existing Pokukrom West and Pokukrom East areas of the resource. But in addition, we have air core drilling planned to test 20 targets over nine kilometers. Remember, this is a 100 square kilometer land package, with 20 compelling targets on several structures that are up to nine kilometers in length looking for new discoveries so we’re really just getting started here.

Dr. Allen Alper: Oh, that's great. Well, it will be of interest to our readers/investors to see the news as you drill, as you explore and find out more and more about your Manfo’s overall potential.

Ingrid Hibbard: Well, one of the things we should turn our minds to is that existing resource was done when the gold price was at $1,450 so even with a conservative approach to the current gold price, the resource has the potential to increase based on the rising gold price and when you factor in a bit more drilling with the kind of success we’ve just shown in this higher grade area at Pokukrom West, it is a very promising and emerging story.

Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. That's great. Could you tell our readers/investors a little bit about your plans going forward and your Canadian projects?

Ingrid Hibbard: We're drilling now at Dome West in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. We are directly beside the Dome Mine in Timmins. We are 800 meters from the pit. You can stand on our property and practically throw a rock and hit their pit. We're drilling there, as we speak, and we're doing two holes. We had about three targets that we were looking to test with those two holes. We had been able to get some information from the two adjoining mines next door; the Paymaster and the Dome.

We were able to get both the results of some drilling at the 1,000-foot level, and actually see their drill logs, so we would have a better understanding of the mineralization and what we're looking for. The Vipond Group is the host of most of the gold of the Dome, and that was a significant target for us.

It's very exciting! It's in downtown Timmins, unbelievably close to an existing mine, so it fits into our strategy of strategic land packages close to existing producers. It's hard to get much closer than that. We’ve just finished drilling that, and the core is being split and logged and samples sent in for assaying. We'll be finishing up in the next few weeks and then, of course, waiting for results to come in.

In January, we're going to move over to our Gowan Project, which is 16 kilometers from the Kidd Creek VMS Mine. We have two targets there that we're going to be drilling. It's a little bit different for us because it's polymetallic, not just gold. One is a VMS target, and the other is a nickel-copper target.

We're quite excited about that. There has been some very shallow historical drilling in the area that has given us indications that there's been some copper numbers as well as some gold and silver numbers on the project. We did a deep penetrating VTEM survey first, which is what encouraged us about the polymetallic potential here. Then just recently, we completed some ground geophysics which helped refine the anomalies and developed those two distinct target areas.

Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent! It sounds like it's going to be a very exciting time, as your data from your drilling starts to be revealed.

Ingrid Hibbard: I think the end of 2021 and 2022 are going to be very exciting times for us. We're continuing to work at Manfo, drilling at Dome West, we’re going to be drilling at Gowan. I think we talked briefly about this before, but we have a great partner on one of our other Ontario projects, the Birch Lake property, which adjoins First Mining’s Springpole Project, and we've recently done an earn-in, joint venture deal with them. So, we expect them to be getting on to the ground, in due course. It's located on High Grade Island, which gives you some idea that it's a high-grade target. We expect to see some drilling starting sometime next year and then there will be a steady flow of news and results coming in on that project as well.

Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. That's really great. Could you update our readers/investors on your share and capital structure?

Ingrid Hibbard: We have 75 million shares outstanding with significant share holdings by Management. Management has definite skin in the game. Given the suite of compelling assets, I think we're in really good shape to have only 75 million shares outstanding. Manfo, with its existing resource and significant potential to grow it and make new discoveries over the 100 square kilometer land package. Dome West Project, right beside the Dome Mine, literally in downtown Timmins. Then our Gowan Project with the two polymetallic targets. We are very optimistic about the future.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well, that's fantastic. Could you highlight the primary reasons our readers/investors should consider investing in Pelangio Exploration?

Ingrid Hibbard: I always start off first with the Team, so we have a great Team. Kevin Thompson has done a great job at Manfo, with the first two holes coming in as they did. Kevin Filo is handling our projects in Canada and overseeing the Dome drilling. Both of those gentlemen have 25-30 years of experience. They're experts in these regions. Kevin Thompson has been working in and around West Africa for 25 years. Kevin Filo’s been working in the Abitibi for 25 years.

Sam Torkornoo handles things in Ghana. He too has 20 years of experience as a geological engineer. We have a great Team with a track record of success. We've built this resource at Manfo. The previous Pelangio spun out the Detour projects. So, it's our people, it's the projects and these three projects have tremendous potential in areas with significant mining history, in mining-friendly jurisdictions.

Dr. Allen Alper: Also, they're being led by someone who has great business acumen, and a proven track record, going back to Detour Gold, and with a feel for the geology and exploration.

Ingrid Hibbard: Oh, thank you. I was trained as a lawyer, so that does help, when we're doing deals. My father was a prospector, I grew up in Timmins, so I certainly know the business from end to end. Although I don't pretend to be a mining expert, exploration is really our love. Exploration and discovery are really what Pelangio is about.

Dr. Allen Alper: Well, that's fantastic. You have a career that you could be very proud of. And I know your Dad would be extremely proud of you. I remember when I first met you, we talked about your Dad. It must have been 15 years ago, and you had a picture of him, with his plane.

Ingrid Hibbard: Yes, absolutely. In those days, you still would stake claims by having to go out into the bush and literally staking them, by running around the claim and putting a physical stake in all four corners. Having your own private plane was a little bit of an advantage. It was an exciting time to be growing up in the mining business and watching the discoveries being made in Canada.

Dr. Allen Alper: Oh, that's excellent, Ingrid! Is there anything you'd like to add?

Ingrid Hibbard: No, I think we need to keep it simple. We have good technical people. We have three projects that we're going to be focusing on, in the next six months. All of them have a lot of potential. All of them are in historic mining camps, well located, and all of them have already had indications of promising geology and mineralization. One of them has a resource and the others have indications of mineralization on the ground or right next door. So, it's an exciting time for us!

Dr. Allen Alper: Oh, that's excellent! We’ll publish your press releases as they come out so our readers/investors can follow your progress.

https://pelangio.com/

Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO

Tel: 905-336-3828
Toll-free: 1-877-746-1632
Email: info@pelangio.com