Also: Alaska Miner Shows Greater Costs
TCRs, shares of Ghana gold explorer and alluvial gold producer Xtra-Gold Resources are at their highest point since late 2011.
The gains come as shares of many small miners, less than $300 million market value, are declining in a tax-loss selling start of December.
The self-financed Xtra-Gold XTG XTGRF has been expanding its resource, which was updated and filed a month ago to 1,058,200 indicated-category gold ounces for its Kibi Gold Belt holdings.
James Longshore, CEO and country manager, is at the company’s camp this week. Yves Clement, VP of exploration, and Jim will be reviewing potential indications of additional gold shoots on the property. Jim and Yves are Canadian.
A longtime shareholder tells me that the gold per share metric has increased from 0.0174 to 0.0269 ounces of gold behind every share outstanding. The per-share gold number and the rising cash per share number show value per share is increasing, the shareholder says.
At the current price, XTG shares = an $80 million CAD market worth.
Here at home, we have owned XTGRF shares since 2009, when I first visited the Kibi with James Longshore. Since then, I have been to base camp and the Kibi fields four more times and accumulated more shares.
On Monday, I entered an order to purchase another 3,000 shares of XTGRF at $1.29 USD. If successful, (it was), we would sell those shares and another 2,500 at a price greater than $1.75.
XTGRF is our second largest resources holding, approximately 112,000 shares, after Africa miner and developer Ivanhoe Mines IVPAF IVN (approx. 82,000 shares). Alamos Gold AGI is in third place and EMX Royalty EMX is in fourth, I believe.
Please see: China Miners Seeking Africa Gold Mines
The state’s weight guidelines are for trucks crossing Alaska bridges. Manh Choh, a gold mine Contango owns 30% of with Kinross Gold‘s 70%, ships gold in trucks to the Kinross plant at Fort Knox in Alaska.
“Costs at the mill are relatively fixed, but they are spread over fewer tons so the cost per ton goes up as does AISC,” Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse explained. AISC = average all-in sustaining cost.
A combination of lighter loads and a company-imposed limit on the number of trucks transporting ore will boost average per-ounce costs by 16% to $1,400 across a 4-year and maybe a 5-year mine lifespan.
CTGO shares in NYSE trading fell 21% on a holiday-shortened Friday. On Monday, the stock was at $13.50 after 90 minutes of trading.
I own the shares and sold a couple hundred just before the market closed — for a loss.
Several shareholders and potential new holders weighed in to say shares of CTGO, if the company keeps to its cash-flow and production guidance, looks to be selling for about 3 or so times 2025 cash flow of $50 million. This does not factor in convertible debt issuance, options and warrant exercises.
Nor does any fair value estimate of CTGO factor in a greater or lesser gold price.
“The Chena Flood Plain bridge is one of the newest bridges along the road but it has been problematic since it was built – which is why the Alaska DOT had requested and included an upgrade to the bridge in the last STIP plan submitted to the Biden administration,” Rick, who lives in Fairbanks, says.
“But … the Biden administration’s federal DOT rejected the request. Because this applies to all trucks, everything that comes in the large trucks to interior Alaska via that route will cost more,” he said.
— Thom Calandra
Thom Calandra is a writer and an investor. Research and material are meant as editorial opinion. He is not a professional investment adviser. Please do not consider his reporting as a recommendation to buy or sell securities.