Wedoany.com Report on Feb 12th, Liberty Gold updated the resource for its Black Pine project in southeastern Idaho, placing it first among undeveloped gold projects in the state by contained gold ounces and in the top three for the region. The company's share price rose accordingly.
On Tuesday, Liberty Gold reported that the update increased Black Pine's indicated resource to 502.7 million tonnes grading 0.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 4.8 million contained ounces, a 17% increase from the 4.1 million indicated ounces in the 2024 study. The inferred resource is now 157.1 million tonnes grading 0.21 g/t gold for about 1 million contained ounces, a 47% increase. The Black Pine project is located about 380 km southeast of the state capital, Boise.
Canaccord Genuity capital markets analyst Peter Bell said in a Tuesday report that the increase of over 700,000 indicated gold ounces and 338,000 inferred gold ounces is "a solid outcome that materially enhances the scale of the project."
"(The update) not only grows the resource but, more importantly, increases the higher-confidence indicated inventory that supports feasibility study work," he said. "We view this as a constructive outcome that strengthens the project's development trajectory towards development."
The resource update adds significant momentum for Liberty Gold, coming just weeks after Black Pine was included in the FAST-41 federal program to expedite permitting. Its designation as a "covered project" provides benefits such as project coordination and scheduling, enhancing inter-agency coordination for the project.
In Toronto on Tuesday afternoon, Liberty Gold shares surged over 3% to a 52-week high of C$1.42 per share, valuing the company at about C$723 million (US$534 million).
Compared to other projects in Idaho, Black Pine's total contained gold ounces surpasses Revival Gold's (TSXV: RVG; US-OTC: RVLGF) Beartrack-Arnett project and Freeman Gold's (CSE: FMAN; US-OTC: FMANF) Lemhi project.
In the Western U.S. Intermountain region, Black Pine ranks third, behind AngloGold Ashanti's (NYSE: AU; JSE: ANG) Beatty District project in northern Nevada and Hycroft Mining's (Nasdaq: HYMC) namesake project in southern Nevada.
"This updated mineral resource estimate achieves indicated resource growth and expands the total resource, an important step for the Black Pine project towards mine development," Liberty Gold CEO Jon Gilligan said in a news release. "With just under 5 million ounces of indicated-level gold resource and just over 1 million ounces of inferred mineralization, Black Pine is firmly on track to deliver a feasibility study in the fourth quarter of this year."
Liberty Gold said the update is based on results from 3,010 drill holes totaling 462,662 meters. A preliminary feasibility study estimates Black Pine's after-tax net present value at US$550 million (C$744 million), with an after-tax internal rate of return of 32% and all-in sustaining costs of US$1,380 per ounce. This is based on a US$2,000 per ounce gold price assumption and a 5% discount rate.
