RNC Minerals: Beta Hunt Continues to produce High Grade Results

Many months have passed since the initial discovery that rocked the investing community. Investors watched as the share price skyrocketed from .07 cents to as high as 1.18 late last year and while everyone held their breath waiting for more results, RNC instead opted to pull back the reins and focus on exploration in an attempt to define the the resource and prove out the geological model. Meanwhile, CEO Mark Selby toured the world with the impressive rare specimens produced by the FDV discovery in an attempt to garner institutional investor interest.

The market reacted negatively to this retraction of production, but it was absolutely necessary in order to map out the ore body and develop a new mine plan that would see long term sustainability. The drilling campaign was scheduled to drill 35,000 meters of resource drilling and 5000 m of exploration drilling set to wrap up by the end of the second quarter. However, as the drill result came back yielding some very impressive drill intercepts, the company quickly realized that in order to be successful moving forward, they would need to acquire a mill to meet the demands of the resource.

They went to work exploring options and on March 26th they announced that they had entered into a purchase option agreement with Westgold Resources Limited for its Higginsville Gold Operation, which included a mill with the capacity to solve their milling needs and a rather large land package in the heart of Western Australia’s world renown gold camps. At the time many questioned their motives and given that they were barely half way through their drilling campaign, there was some validation to the skepticism they faced. What the market didn’t know or at least failed to acknowledge at the time was that not only was the FDV not a one off but there was potential for these types of deposits to be repeatable throughout the mine.

These were rough times for retail investors who got caught up in the excitement of the initial discovery due to the suppressed share price that seemed to drop on every bit of news handed to them. The company went through many stints of silence and keeping investors informed seemed to be a secondary concern as they continued to develop their business plan and get things in order for the future of the company. Some core groups of people (myself included) helped in comforting those who had little to no knowledge of the mining sector but were always met with bearish opinions in an attempt to discredit them, but the facts prevailed and sentiment took an about turn when RNC announced another major discovery on June 1st,2019.

The high-grade gold structures were encountered in an Ore Drive on level 16 as it entered the area where the down-plunge extensions of Father’s Day Vein mineralization was projected to occur. Twenty five meters below the initial FDV discovery area and 18 m below their drill intercept of 1,461 g/t over .50 m, all but confirmed the geological model under which they have been operating. This new area produced roughly 987 ounces of coarse visible gold and has set the stage for whats to come as they continue mining in the A Zone.

“We are thrilled to have encountered high grade coarse gold in the area below the Father’s Day Vein. This most recent discovery provides further support for our geological model that predicts that the areas where the mineralized shear zone and sedimentary sulphides intersect are capable of generating “Father’s Day Vein” style coarse gold mineralization, and proves that such areas extend at least 25 metres below the Father’s Day Vein discovery,” said Mark Selby, President and CEO of RNC Minerals. “We look forward to continued mining in this highly prospective area with the potential to find other veins containing coarse gold. As material developments occur, we will continue to update the market.”

In the weeks leading up to this discovery, RNC Minerals clearly heard the cries of the retail market and ramped up their media exposure through multiple interviews and consistent news releases, keeping investors up to speed every step of the way. This discovery was well orchestrated on a level we have not seen from this management group since the initial discovery and was rather well received by the market as the share price rose almost 23% on the news.

This is a very exciting time for RNC Minerals as they have laid the foundation for future success and aim to break out from being considered a junior mining and exploration company and enter into the next phase of their development as a mid tier Gold producer. On Monday they are set to close out the Higginsville deal and will be 100 percent self sufficient as they Ramp up production at Beta Hunt and put the newly acquired Baloo operation from the HGO deal into production. The potential of Beta Hunt has certainly created a bit of a stir in Western Australia and has many miners considering the prospects of similar type deposits on their own properties and it’s quite clear that RNC has the attention of the folks down under.

In fact, Not far away on Mincor’s, Cassini nickel project in Widgiemooltha, they recently hit a drill intercept of 7,610 g/t over .21 m. Despite this high grade intercept, Minor has placed this property up for sale with the intention of focusing on nickel production. Whats interesting about this property is that it strikes a resemblance to the Kambalda dome and could very well host a similar gold deposit.

“Mincor believes there are substantial optimisation opportunities at [Widgiemooltha gold operations] for a focused gold company, while there are also significant resource extension and regional exploration opportunities, as demonstrated by the stand-out gold intersection reported at Cassini today, which is part of the greater Widgiemooltha Dome project area,” the company said.

Mining will stop at Widgiemooltha from August 1, but Mincor expects to process two parcels of ore of between 80,000 to 90,000 ounces in August and September under a short-term agreement with the Lakewood processing facility in Kalgoorlie.

Not only is RNC Minerals sitting on this phenomenal gold discovery they also have another significant asset creating a bit of a stir as the demand for nickel is set to outpace the production rates as the EV story heats up. The Dumont property is the second largest shovel ready nickel deposits in the world and situated in a low risk jurisdiction, which adds to the value of the project. With the recent completion of the updated feasibility study RNC is ready to seek out partners to work with to see this project to go into production and become a viable solution to meet the nickel demands of the market in the years to come.

Overall, RNC has made all the right moves to be successful moving forward and should reap the rewards of taking their time and building their projects the right way. It may not have happened as quickly as some would have liked but nobody can deny the potential of the projects they are actively working on developing. With a bit of luck and some support from investors, RNC could reach new heights and put all the questions and uncertainty about Beta Hunt and Dumont behind them.

Disclosure: We currently hold a position of RNC but this was not a paid service. This should not be considered investing advice as we are not registered financial advisors and we encourage you to consult a trained professional before making any investment decisions. We do our best to get information that can help this process but be mindful that this interview may contain forward looking statements and you should always do your own due diligence.