GNCC Capital is dead set on proving up reserves through shrewdly directed exploration on the company’s six main properties in Arizona, three of which are gold-focused and three of which are silver-focused, with about an 80-20 mix percentage-wise for gold-silver overall. The company has considerable development guidance in the form of previous documentation on the properties, as well as a clear vision for the necessary analytical work including surveying, sampling, and drilling towards production.
Heavy emphasis on developing the historically well-documented mineral potential at the gold sites in particular is a key objective for GNCP, and the company has taken a committed stance on the share structure, with 12% of outstanding common stock in the hands of company directors and a relatively small free float of trading, unrestricted shares. Balance that against the fact that the company’s veteran leadership remains acquisition hungry and that the directors, in addition to certain shareholders, maintain interests in other mining areas like coal, copper, iron ore, and rare earths, a clear portrait emerges of a company aggressively snapping up underexplored mining projects (gold and silver in particular) with huge production potential.
Looking at the gold properties first we have the 160-acre Burnt Well property (9 unpatented lode mining claims) in La Paz County on BLM-administered lands. Formerly developed by Cordex Exploration, including the Silver Lining Mine, all of the workings on the property are in choice geology (gold-silver-copper) above the regional Bullard Detachment Fault. We have some seriously altered sedimentary rock here just off the fault with Cordex data on the main shaft and adit showing mineralization values as high as 1.0 opt Au, with broader collection in the tertiary rock showing returns on widths over 20 feet of 0.01 to 0.03 opt. Two more shafts roughly a mile southwest from the Silver Lining Mine also shows strong indications of the geologic potential here, having yielded 0.01 opt Au in sampling. The plan will be to follow the clean roadmap laid out by extant Cordex data with some updated magnetic/geophysical surveying and sampling.
The 480-acre (24 lode claims, BLM admin) Clara Gold project, also in La Paz, previously kicked up averages of 0.091 opt Au, with one contiguous chip/channel effort showing 0.162 opt over 85 feet in underground mining (Nevada Pacific, who had acquired the property in 1997) and values as high as 0.512 opt with up to 2.59% copper. With surface sampling showing returns as high as 0.652 opt, including exceptional copper secondaries as high as 20%, in addition to extensive mine workings site-wide from the 90′s by Nevada Pacific and Clara Consolidated Gold & Copper Mining Co., who pioneered the property’s Clara and Moreau Gold Mines, we have an abundance of solid mineralization leads in another clear detachment fault series (here the Buckskin/Rawhide). Plans for Clara are to follow-up the work done by Nevada Pacific with surveying/sampling that can be used to develop ideal drilling targets.
Wrapping up the gold-focused side of the business, we have the 100 acres (5 unpatented lode claims) that make up the Ester Basin properties in Mohave County (Owens Mining District). Again in the Buckskin/Rawhide detachment fault region, Ester Basin was previously explored like the others (here in the 80′s at last effort). Phelps Dodge did a great deal of magnetic, geochemical, and some limited, preliminary drilling which has come down to the company and will serve the forthcoming exploration program well. It is worth noting that Phelps Dodge also did some work over in the Clara area during the latter half of the 80′s (18 air hammer holes), yielding estimates of 2M tons of ore at 0.1 ppm Au. GNCP will be looking to pick up where Phelps Dodge left off, chasing grab sample data targets from the three main on-site shafts, which run as high as 0.412 opt Au and 1.1 opt silver with 1.94% copper. This is Walker Lane trend classic detachment fault mineralization like that seen elsewhere in AZ, with Cyprus Gold’s 500k oz Copperstone open pit operation from the 80′s being a perfect example.
Turning to GNCP’s silver properties we have the 411-acre (24 unpatented lode mining claims, BLM admin) Kit Carson project in beautiful Yavapai County (Big Bug Mining District), with a 50% interest in the 11-acre Lady Alde patented lode claim. The company has quite an undeveloped resource base here, with some 3k feet in the Silver Belt – McCabe Vein System and another 6k in the Kit Carson Vein System (another 3k still in the Lady Alde). This project is smack in between the Iron King Mine (gold-silver-lead-zinc) developed back in the 60′s and Magma’s (later BHP) Gladstone – McCabe Gold Mine developed in the 80′s. Historic data from the Iron King, which saw some $2.6B in production by 2011 prices (some 616.5k oz Au, 18.5M oz Ag, 125.4k tons of lead, 367.6k tons of zinc, and 9.6k tons of copper) occurring from 1942 to 1968, yielded average ore grades as high as 0.123 opt Au and 3.69 opt Ag. Other numerous workings on the site like the Silver Belt mine (14k-foot continuous Silver Belt-McCabe vein) showed historic production worth over $21M in silver by 2011 prices.
Also in Mohave County are the Potts Mountain properties, consisting of some 40 acres (2 unpatented lode mining claims) just north of the Ester Basin property (on the same Buckskin/Rawhide detachment fault). The entire mountain is ringed with mineralization targets and historic producing developments, like the Lead Pill Silver Mine (silver-lead) and Red Top Gold Mine (gold-copper), giving strong indication that the underexploited host rock has tremendous upside potential.
Finally, we have the 80-acre (4 unpatented lode claims) Silverfield project up across the Bill Williams River, again in Mohave County. Previous silver and even gold production on the site ending in the 80′s underscores the potential at the Big Hill and North Star Hill workings, the latter of which is supposed to have a large, completely untapped silver resource. GNCP was very diligent about picking up extant analytical data on the site, something true for all six sites in general, here tagging the logging sets from drilling by Anschutz Mining back in the 80′s. Widespread alteration in conjunction with replacement silver and copper mineralization (including a hot springs-type sinter deposition), taken into context alongside State of Arizona sampling data which even kicked up the presence of vanadium on the site, should give investors a solid perceptual end cap for the company’s silver strategy in Mohave County.
Detailed in a recent update to stockholders is the company’s move to expand its overall regional position through cunning engagement of both North American Gold & Minerals Fund (NMGL, for whom the GNCP Chairman also performs Chairman duties) and an associated publicly quoted exploration firm, Subco. A deal that will create a synergistic framework from which to approach other strategically optimum acquisitions, including a 50/50 JV on a significant, highly prospective gold property in AZ currently un-owned by either company. The July report also went into the company’s better-than-expected financial performance despite increased outlays due to accelerated exploration expenses. Also covered were new income stream initiatives and other activities, especially in concert with NMGL, where cooperative possibilities promise to stimulate logistical growth for both operations.
For more information on GNCC Capital, visit www.GNCC-Capital.com
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