Pelangio Exploration (CVE: PX) Poised for Upturn in Markets with Properties in Ghana’s Gold Coast
|
By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC
on 5/5/2016
Ingrid Hibbard had a huge success buying Detour Lake in a downturn, exploring it and selling it at a huge profit for her shareholders. She and her team are now applying that strategy and approach obtaining very large land packages located on historic, prolific gold belts in Ghana.
Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEO of Pelangio Exploration (CVE: PX), spoke with Dr. Alper to update readers on the preparations that the company has made to weather the downturn in the markets and the way they have prepared for the upturn. She said, “We really think that we have remarkable blue sky potential. We have very large land packages located on historic, prolific gold belts. Ghana used to be known as the Gold Coast. It is very prolific in terms of its gold production.”
The company has more than one asset in Ghana. Ingrid Hibbard said, “We have three assets there. Our Manfo property is our flagship asset. The resource estimate that we have there provides a solid base and a model for future exploration. We have 195,000 ounces in the indicated category and 298,000 ounces in the inferred category, so we actually have ounces in the ground. The trend that hosts the resource extends for nine kilometers across our property. The resource is only on two of the discovery areas that we have discovered over the last number of years. There are already an additional four discovery areas for follow up along the nine kilometer trend, as well as the opportunity to increase that resource with additional drilling.”
Ingrid Hibbard said, “Most recently, and as a result of the downturn, we took the opportunity to make some changes. Downturns are terrible to live through, but they can actually provide tremendous opportunity for the company. As you know, this isn’t this group’s first time through a downturn. In fact we have been through it before in 1998. That is what allowed us to buy what is now the Detour Lake mine. We were able to buy that mine in 1998 at the bottom of the market. You have to keep that in mind in market downturns like this. It is easy for people to get discouraged, but that is when the greatest opportunities can present themselves. That is when some of the greatest technical thinking and the re-looking-at happens. That is exactly what happened at Detour Lake. We were able to re-envision that, taking it from an underground mine and looking at it from the potential of a big open pit.”
Ingrid Hibbard said, “Similarly, that is what we are doing during this downturn. As a result, after significant consulting, reinterpretation, operational analysis and work, we have now found that there is another six kilometers of structure running across the property, but even more significantly, this is a major belt bounding structure. In other words, we have more than doubled the amount of structure in the belt and that structure has the potential, though we haven’t drilled it yet, it does have the potential to host a bigger and higher grade deposit. It is looking really good.”
The company also has the Obuasi project to manage. Hibbard said, “We have our Obuasi project that is located contiguous to the historic Obuasi mine property. Recognizing that we were coming into a downturn, we started to take action early. We ratcheted down our spending years ago because you don’t know how long it will last. It feels like we could be coming to an end, but it is very difficult to predict. We moved to having contractors for more flexibility and we used the downturn to enhance our exploration techniques.”
One way the company changed their focus was to get access to new drilling technology. Hibbard said, “We used a drill rig that was designed in Canada to be small enough to be helicoptered in to the Arctic and it was just what we needed in Ghana. We knew it would take quite a bit of time to get built and delivered to Ghana and to get people trained and the rig commissioned. We have not done it directly through Pelangio. We have an arrangement with a Ghanaian company that will give us first call on that rig and to have drilling done for Pelangio at cost for the first couple of years which will decrease our drill costs by at least 50%. We have drill targets ahead of us and first call on a rig when we need it. When things start moving up, having access to quality people and quality equipment can be a challenge. Our deal is necessary for success in the next upturn. We know that we operate in a cyclical industry. The key is to capitalize on the upturns.”
Ingrid Hibbard and her team are comfortable working in Ghana and see some significant upside. She said, “Ghana was known as the Gold Coast. They have been mining in Ghana for centuries, so that gives you infrastructure, which gives you supplies and a known set of structures and you can see how other mines have been found. In terms of recent discoveries, many $5+ million ounce discoveries have been found in the last few years. Permitting and development are attainable. It is a good place to develop a mine. You can bring a mine on even during tough times and get it built. That is the advantage of working in an area that has a history with mining.”
The tasks for the year will depend on the status of the overall market. Ingrid Hibbard said, “We are going to continue depending on market conditions. We have been using the downturn to position ourselves for better times. You don’t want to be spending significant money until you are convinced that better times are ahead of us and the worse times are behind us. I think we are there. We have tremendous targets ahead of us at Manfo. In addition, at our Obuasi project, we have identified an Obuasi-style system on our property. Those intersections include 24.5 grams over one meter and 11.28 grams over two meters. There are eight drill ready targets over 1500 meters to test. We have positioned ourselves to be ready to go.”
http://www.pelangio.com/
Pelangio Exploration Inc.
4139 Britannia Road, Burlington, ON
Canada L7M 0R8
Email: info@pelangio.com
Tel: 905-336-3828
Fax: 905-336-3899
Toll Free: 1-877-746-1632
|
|