Saturday, 15 March 2025

San Lorenzo Gold: CEO Interview Foretells a Sustained Rise in Stock Price

Over the last couple of weeks we have been very bullish on San Lorenzo Gold Corp. (SLG.V), with our first blog post released when the stock price was $0.18. The stock hit $0.40 this past week before a pullback to $0.34 on Friday. We think latecomers to the story still have an opportunity to profit big, but need to act soon. An interview held by SLG's CEO Al Kroontje and released on Friday foretells a sustained increase in the stock price to come:

 


The key points that we would like to highlight from this interview are:

  • Warrants have been exercised, raising $1.5 million. 
  • In the past, the company raised money through issuance of debt that was convertible at $0.20, when the stock price was 6-7 cents.
  • No need for financing at this time.
  • $1 million budget for the next phase of drilling.
  • Drilling will start in three months.
  • There will be 9 drill holes, three each on three targets - Cerro Blanco, Arco de Oro and Tres Amigos.
  • Drilling will occur east of the third hole on Cerro Blanco where the most significant IP anomaly exists.
  • Last program the company had issues with surface access, but now it won't be an issue.
  • The elevation, geography and topography allows for relatively easy year-round access.
  • There is ample infrastructure (power, roads) and permitting is timely

The company has also released an updated corporate presentation

What does all this mean? There are multiple positive catalysts with no negative catalysts (the threat of dilution) and risks are relatively low compared to the typical exploration play. Management has no intent to dilute at this time, at least until after the next drill campaign is complete. Talk is cheap and anyone can say that, however, SLG already has a demonstrated history of treating shareholders well. The CEO participated in debt financing that was convertible at $0.20, well above the stock price at the time. Now that he has debt that is convertible at prices well below market price (along with 12 million shares and 4 million options), he has even more incentive to ensure the stock price is as high as possible before undertaking a financing. 

The company will be targeting east of the third drill hole on Cerro Blanco, where the most significant IP anomaly exists. The reason it didn't target there before was due to lack of surface access, which is no longer an issue. This is an important point because assuming that this anomaly increases eastward linearly, this implies that the third hole will have superior results to the first hole already released. 

Drill results can be a "sell on news" event. Why? Because a company is out of cash and must raise funds to continue with the next drill program. There is a negative catalyst before more positive catalysts can occur. The market knows this and a selloff occurs, even if there is pretty good results. This will not be the case with SLG. Not only is it not financing, but more drilling is occurring in another three months. This means more results could be out during the summer. If the third drill hole shows superior drill results to the first one, that will be confirmation to the theory that the discovery improves the further east it goes. That will increase speculation and excitement and lead to a sustained run in the stock price over several months in our opinion, until the next batch of results are due.

Investors, traders and speculators who are not yet in should consider throwing down a bet on SLG soon. The remaining drill results for this round should be released any day now and we think the odds are strongly in favor of the gambler instead of the house on this one. With 80 million shares outstanding inclusive of the warrants, announcement of results that are similar to or superior than the ones already released should justify a market cap over $100 million. This would lead to a stock price in the $1.25 range, with the possibility of a sustained run well beyond that depending on the hype around the next round of drilling. We are up to 1,033 followers on our ValueTrades blog despite not giving out a lot of alerts, a fact that we think is indicative of a successful, diligent and prudent stock picking history. If you like our picks you can also follow this blog by clicking the follow button on the top of the left hand panel. We have 122 followers so far on here. You can also follow us on X @StockTradePicks which has over 5,000 followers.

Disclosure: We are long SLG.V

Sunday, 9 March 2025

San Lorenzo Gold: Get Shares While they are Cheap

On Tuesday we released a blog post about San Lorenzo Gold Corp. (SLG.V) when it was trading at $0.18. It closed at $0.30 on Friday, up 67%. So it can already be added to our winner's pile. But we think this explorer has a unique set of circumstances that still make it a strong speculative buy even after it has quintupled in price over the last several days. We are up to 1,033 followers on our ValueTrades blog despite not giving out a lot of alerts, a fact that we think is indicative of a successful, diligent and prudent stock picking history. If you like our picks you can also follow this blog by clicking the follow button on the top of the left hand panel. We have 122 followers so far on here. You can also follow us on X @StockTradePicks which has over 5,000 followers.

SLG skyrocketed last week upon the announcement of significant gold mineralization on the first drill hole of two separate targets on its 88 km sq Salvadora property in Chile. 









 The two targets were Cerro Blanco and Arco de Oro, which are located on completely opposite ends of the property and are separate discoveries. The copper results are still pending on Arco de Oro. Either one of these discoveries would have merited a significant valuation bump as the first of three drill holes on each program. SLG investors get a 2-for-1. This significantly reduces the usual amount of risk associated with buying during a drill program. Investors aren't putting their eggs in one basket, they are putting them into two. All for a company that will have about a $24 million market cap and about $1.5 million in cash after warrant expiry. 

The unique timing of this news release is what led to this buying opportunity post-news in the first place. There are 8.3 million warrants set to expire at the end of this week at $0.18. SLG initially spiked to $0.30 on the news, but faced steep selling down to $0.18 as warrant holders who likely wrote off those warrants long ago got a surprise Christmas gift in March. We don't think the timing of the news release was accidental. SLG management wanted to ensure this news came out before expiry and therefore released these partial results on the first drill holes instead of waiting for the larger batch. That tells us that management does right by shareholders. Rather than looking to raise cash in another financing, management made sure SLG got the cash through warrant exercises and that legacy private placement investors were able to exercise the warrants profitably. This doesn't mean SLG won't try to raise more cash, but this warrant expiry gives it the flexibility to wait for a higher price or weigh its options by securing a strategic partner instead. Salvadora is 100% owned by SLG with no NSR so the company is in a position to negotiate a good deal for shareholders if it goes that route. 

With the price being at $0.30, we have no doubts that essentially all warrants will be exercised. The share overhang from these exercises has likely been mostly absorbed, but we can't rule out that more remains. The stock has had some resistance at $0.35 and sold off to $0.30 by day's end on Friday. We predict that the stock price will be around the $0.50 range early next week. Why? Two reasons. First, we expect a bump in price from the expiry date of the warrants. We saw a similar event occur on one of our past picks, Sintana Energy Inc. (SEI.V) (SEUSF) once its warrants expired. I think most readers can understand why this is a bullish event, as any kind of selling pressure related to warrant exercise would officially be in the rear view mirror. The second catalyst would be that by next week, further assay results would be days away. There would be buying from increased speculation. 

We think that $0.50 at least brings SLG to a fair valuation. That would be a $40 million market cap, in line with another one of our successful past picks, Awalé Resources Limited (ARIC.V). From there, it would be up to investors to hold on speculation of further good results. If the second and third holes in both targets confirmed similar robust results as the first holes, we expect the company's valuation to increase to the $100 million market cap range, at least on initial hype. If one target achieves robust results while the other is poor or mediocre, SLG likely is still a material win even for $0.50 buyers. Only if all remaining drill hole results on both targets disappoint relative to the first results does the stock price drop, and we think even in this instance there would be plenty of time for $0.30 buyers to exit at a profit. In our opinion, $0.30 is a no-brainer buy zone with the hold/sell decision not becoming a thinker until at least the $0.50 level.  

Disclosure: We are long SLG.V

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

San Lorenzo Gold: The Stars of PDAC After Massive Hits of Gold

It has been nearly a year since we posted on this blog. Last March 18th, we wrote a bullish call on Awalé Resources Limited (ARIC.V) after high grade gold intercepts were announced. The next several trading days saw it move from $0.26 to as high as $1.00. We don't post often here because we are very selective with our picks to ensure that we are picking winners. Beyond ARIC, five of our last 11 picks going back to June 2022 have been massive winners (2-10x) that have kept or increased their gains with time. A near impossible track record on the junior exchanges. That includes Simply Better Brands Corp. (PKANF) (SBBC.V),  GobiMin Inc. (GMNFF) (GMN.V) (since bought out), Surge Battery Metals Inc. (NILI.V) (NILIF), Valeura Energy Inc. (VLE.TO) (PNWRF), and Sintana Energy Inc. (SEI.V) (SEUSF). The remainders were GSI, FUU, EQTY, DYG, HAR and GBML, with only the latter two being excessively poor performers. We find picks that we think can run in the short and the long term. And we believe that the next one will be San Lorenzo Gold Corp. (SLG.V), which has similar traits to ARIC. We are up to 1,031 followers on our ValueTrades blog despite not giving out a lot of alerts, a fact that we think is indicative of a successful, diligent and prudent stock picking history. If you like our picks you can also follow this blog by clicking the follow button on the top of the left hand panel. We have 121 followers so far on here. You can also follow us on Twitter @StockTradePicks which has over 5,000 followers.

From SLG's news released yesterday:

San Lorenzo Drills Discovery Hole at Cerro Blanco, Reporting 153.5 M of 1.04 g/t Gold and Reports 39.6 Metres of High-Grade Gold in Three Intervals in the First Hole at Arco De Oro

CALGARY – TheNewswire - March 3, 2025 - San Lorenzo Gold Corp. (" San Lorenzo " or the " Company ") (TSXV: SLG) is pleased to announce assay results from the first of 3 recently drilled holes on its Cerro Blanco gold/copper porphyry target as well as partial results from the first of 3 holes recently drilled on its Arco de Oro epithermal gold target. Cerro Blanco and Arco de Oro are targets located within San Lorenzo’s flagship Salvadora property in Chile.

San Lorenzo’s CEO Al Kroontje commented that “it’s extremely gratifying to be announcing a discovery hole with our first drill test of Cerro Blanco, a target management has had high conviction about.  Cerro Blanco is a very large target and we’re just scratching the surface with the three reconnaissance holes in the current program.  Arco do Oro has, again, generated results that confirm the robustness of this large, high-grade gold system.  Arco has the scale to contain a large resource.  San Lorenzo is fortunate to control a property that has not one or two, but five high quality target areas.  We plan to expand on our exploration efforts to advance this high-quality project.”

1) Cerro Blanco

The table below shows the mineralized intervals and assay results from Hole SAL 01-24 - the first of the 3 holes recently drilled on the Cerro Blanco copper/gold porphyry target.

Hole #

From(m)

To(m)

Width(m)

Au g/t

Ag g/t

Cu %

SAL

01-24

229.0

382.5

153.5

1.04

1.0

0.05

including

290.5

382.5

92

1.38

1.1

0.06

including

331.7

335..5

3.8

12.78

6.5

0.51

Cerro Blanco is a two-by-two kilometer area of coincident copper/gold soil and rock geochemistry, IP chargeability and exposed lithocap that San Lorenzo believes overlays a mineralized porphyry center.  Cerro Blanco has never been drilled before.  Mineralization in hole 01-24 continued to the bottom of the hole, indicating the mineralized system remains open to depth.

Commenting on the Cerro Blanco results, Terence Walker, San Lorenzo’s VP of Exploration explained : “ The initial drill program on Cerro Blanco was designed as a widely spaced first pass recon program.  It was intended to confirm the company's opinion that the coincident strong surface copper and gold sample values, the alteration types observed in the local intrusive and volcanic rocks and the underlying IP/Chargeability anomalies are part of a local gold/copper enriched porphyry deposit similar to those at the nearby El Salvador mine complex. These assays results indicate the hole’s position in the outer margin of a porphyry deposit, and we feel extremely fortunate to have received such significant results from the very first hole drilled on this exciting target.”

Terry Walker continued: “The assay results correspond exceedingly well with our IP interpretation which reinforces our belief that IP will continue to be a valuable tool during future drilling.”

San Lorenzo has been advised that assay results from the other two holes recently drilled on the Cerro Blanco porphyry target will be forthcoming during the next approximately 2 weeks.  Holes two and three contain alteration and mineralization similar in appearance to hole one.

2) Arco de Oro

The table below provides assay results from Hole SAL 01-25 - the first of the 3 holes recently drilled on the Arco de Oro epithermal multi-vein feature. This hole is a 300 metre step out to the northwest along trend from past drilling at Arco.

Hole #

From(m)

To(m)

Width(m)

Au g/t

Cu %

SAL

01-25

A

15.7

22.2

6.6

5.61

Pending

including

15.7

18.0

2.3

11.14

Pending

B

110.0

119.7

9.7

4.4

Pending

including

117.0

118.4

1.4

12.2

Pending

C

151.1

174.4

23.3

4.8

Pending

including

152.8

156.8

4.0

17.95

Pending

Terry Walker provided the following observations regarding Hole SAL 01–25: “The gold assays received from the first of the 3 holes recently drilled on Arco de Oro confirm our thesis that several epithermal vein systems are converging in a northwesterly direction – as suggested by the strengthening and widening of the IP chargeability anomaly in that direction.  With extensions of high-grade mineralization over significant widths continuing as we head northwest, the need to actively explore the additional 2.5 km of strike to the northwest - evident from shallow artisanal workings - is very much warranted.”

Arco de Oro is a five-kilometer trend of epithermal veining indicated by surface exposures and numerous small shallow artisanal workings.  Every hole drilled by San Lorenzo at Arco de Oro has reported at least one significant gold intercept, indicating the strength and consistency of this large gold system.  High grade results have been obtained to a depth of 300 metres.

San Lorenzo is only in receipt of the gold assays from Hole SAL 01–25 with copper and other elements expected during the upcoming week.

Management is planning significant follow up programs at both Cerro Blanco and Arco de Oro with additional drilling also planned for the Tres Amigos copper-rich epithermal system.  Further drill results from Arco de Oro and Cerro Blanco will be reported as they are received and interpreted, and future exploration plans will be announced once all current drill results are received.

This is unprecedented to see not only one but two major discoveries on the first holes announced of two separate drill programs. ARIC currently has a $40 million market cap and last March closed in on a $100 million market cap days after announcing what we would consider comparable results to SLG - twice the grade at half the length - and that was on one property, not two. 

SLG initially shot up over 300% to $0.30 yesterday, a very deserving reaction to these results. The stock has since pulled back to $0.18, representing the perfect level to buy in as more results are expected in 2-3 weeks. A similar pattern of news as on ARIC last year. Why has it pulled back to this level? Other than the obvious market volatility, there are 8.3 million warrants with an exercise price of $0.18. Those warrants expire within the next two weeks. Clearly the goal here for shareholders/warrant holders and management alike is to get all 8.3 million exercised. That would bring in $1.5 million in cash and would essentially replace any capital raise at this level. To incentivize exercise, the shares would have to be a few cents in the money, at $0.20 or higher. Then immediately after expiry at the end of next week, we expect the stock to fly as the warrant overhang would be eliminated and peak speculation would take over. 

Inclusive of the warrants, shares outstanding would be 80 million. We expect a stock price of $0.50 to come in line with ARIC's valuation, but can't rule out a run to $1.00 or higher should the follow up results equal or better the initial results on one or both of these properties. 

Disclosure: We are long SLG.V

Monday, 18 March 2024

High Grade Gold Intercepts Should Send ARIC Flying

Awalé Resources Limited (ARIC.V) rose 42% today on outstanding drill results at its Odienné Project Joint Venture with Newmont Corporation (NEM) in the Ivory Coast. With these successful drill results and NEM's interest in the project and investment in ARIC, we think this stock will go on a prolonged run. Especially considering the recent increase in the price of gold. We are up to 1,016 followers on our ValueTrades blog despite not giving out a lot of alerts, a fact that we think is indicative of a successful, diligent and prudent stock picking history. If you like our picks you can also follow this blog by clicking the follow button on the top of the left hand panel. We have 122 followers so far on here. You can also follow us on Twitter @StockTradePicks which has over 5,000 followers.

From the news release:

Awalé Hits Multiple Shallow High-Grade Intercepts, Including 2.4 g/t AuEq over 75 Meters at the Odienné Project

NewsfileMar 18, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • 75m @ 2.4 g/t gold equivalent (Au Eq) from 242m downhole* in OEDD-74
  • 44m @ 2.5 g/t Au Eq from 131m downhole* in OEDD-65
  • 40m @ 1.9 g/t Au Eq from 194m downhole* in OEDD-76
  • 39m @ 1.6 g/t Au Eq from 60m downhole* in OEDD-64
  • Assay results from the Charger target are expected soon
  • A follow-up drill program is scheduled to begin in April

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 18, 2024) - Awalé Resources Limited. (TSXV: ARIC) (the "Company" or "Awalé") is delighted to report significant assay results at the Odienné Project. The BBM Zone is a grassroots discovery announced in Awale's January 11, 2024 news release. These latest holes followed up on this promising new discovery, and the Company expects to restart drilling in April. These multiple, shallow, broad, high-grade intercepts demonstrate the BBM zone's excellent continuity and scale potential.

All holes were mineralized and intercepted target geology. Mineralization remains open in all directions.

Andrew Chubb, CEO of Awale Resources, commented today:

"We are delighted with these assays from the follow-up program at the BBM target. The mineralization is robust and we have now confirmed plunging high grade mineralization over 500m of strike, which remains open in all directions. The consistently high-grade gold mineralization encountered in multiple drill holes underscores the prospectivity of our exploration area and highlights the substantial value it holds for our Company and stakeholders."

The gold and copper mineralization and alteration are controlled by a shear zone that follows an intrusive/sedimentary contact. Drilling now covers 2 km of strike along this shear zone, which sits within a high tenor, and open 8km long geochemical gold in termitaria trend. This drilling has been completed on 8 sections with a minimum spacing of 150 m between sections and up to 500m step-outs to the SE and NW (Figure 1). All holes have intercepted mineralization (Figure 2 & 3 cross sections and Figure 4-long section). All assay results from 14 holes for 2537 m drilled at BBM have been returned.

LINK TO BBM's OEDD-74 Drill Core Photos

With an established robust geologic framework, the Company can progress with a targeted drilling program to scope size potential, geological and grade continuity of the mineralization as well as test for new parallel shoots along the 8km of open strike.

A full table of significant intercepts for the program is given in Table 1 below.

 

Cannot view this image? Visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_001.jpg

Figure 1: BBM Location with drill area zoom on the right. Map to left shows the >8km of strike potential between the BBM and Lando targets.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_001full.jpg

Cannot view this image? Visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_002.jpg

Figure 2: Drill section looking NW through A-A' in figure 1. Red hatch shown mineralization zone with >50m true width.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_002full.jpg

Cannot view this image? Visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_003.jpg

Figure 3: Cross Section B-B' through the Discovery line at BBM.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_003full.jpg

Cannot view this image? Visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_004.jpg

Figure 4: Gram Metre Equivalent Long Section L-L'. Approximately 500m strike of high grade mineralization in initial drilling.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10016/202083_6756dbe48452cb3b_004full.jpg

Table 1: List of significant values for all drill holes at BBM

HoleFromToWidthAuEq g/tAu g/tCu_%Mo_ppmAg_ppmEASTNORTHRLAziDipHole DepthAu_gmAuEq_gm
OEDD005959103441.71.20.242300.96560991047971454.836-51179.25375
Including6887192.51.90.264111





3648
Including959943.21.90.892183.3





813
OEDD006049.6566.0016.350.60.40.13850.46563701047683464.945-52122610
OEDD00612578.153.10.90.50.27161.56556301048206455.225-52155.152748
Including37.6539.92.251.61.60.0360.1





44
Including53.6354.651.023.120.75815.5





23
and116117.11.11.71.60.0420.7





22
OEDD0062130.9181.450.51.30.90.181550.8656075104793845437-60188.334566
Including157.7160.552.852.31.60.48781.7





57
Including163.717410.33.32.60.323021.5





2734
OEDD0063175179.34.31.60.70.64301.2655607104814945635-55257.337
OEDD00632172462910.70.21530.8





2029
Including221.642308.362.31.50.48632





1319
OEDD0064475031.51.10.27531.5655979104806045135-55134.4335
OEDD00646099391.61.10.302260.8





4163
OEDD00646082222.21.70.251840.8





3748
Including727426.55.70.403551.7





1113
OEDD0065131175442.51.40.604132.56559491048016450.235-55209.5162110
Including134140653.90.643712.5





2330
Including14615593.41.90.5510632





1731
OEDD00661825.57.51.50.70.58200.86555121048297457.335-5592.2511
Including20.521.512.92.10.50900.9





23
and757612.42.40.0130.5





22
OEDD0067147.00176.0029.000.60.30.11142.10.56563251047619464.535-55206.2916
OEDD006896192960.7470.3450.00041.81.4006554681048237458.835-55239.33372

85.0093.008.000.40.20.10160.4





23

96.00142.0046.000.70.30.24621.0





1331
HoleFromToWidthAuEq g/tAu g/tCu_%Mo_ppmAg_ppmEASTNORTHRLAziDipHole DepthAu_gmAuEq_gm

153.00192.0039.001.00.50.35232.1





1939
OEDD006955.0087.0032.000.40.20.05153.90.36566731047344461.635-55113.3814
OEDD0070*91100100.140.120.1020.16552941048466452.635-55110.2

OEDD0071108.00115.007.000.50.50.0450.16566401047306460.935-55179.334
OEDD0072110.00112.002.000.380.270.07143.58.56576391045558465.1




OEDD00731956.537.51.80.50.773441.7





1968
Including5256451.42.189503.4





620
OEDD0074242317752.41.80.342671.26559111047965448.833-58338.21132181
Including242294522.51.70.363071.3





88130
Including27227316.35.60.461932.3





66
Including28128219.480.676442.8





89
Including3003171732.40.352351.2





4151
Including30530616.75.50.653812.8





67
Including30830916.35.20.692322.4





56
OEDD0075*7286140.330.10.15230.66558541048203448215-55152.3

OEDD007639.2541.001.752.51.90.43323.56557661048079449.835-55254.2034
and194234401.91.50.211181.0





6277
Including219231124.74.00.363221.7





4857

 

The Awalé-Newmont JV - 'Odienné Project JV'

The Odienné Project JV covers one permit and one application within the greater Odienné Gold-Copper Project, the greater project consists of a further 4 applications and on option agreement which in the Northwest of Côte d'Ivoire, and is subject to an earn-in agreement with Newmont Ventures Limited ("Newmont"); see company news release dated May 31 2022 through which Newmont retains the option to earn-in to a minimum of 65% interest, from Awalé, in the Odienné Project JV in return for USD 15 million of exploration expenditures. Newmont is funding the exploration program and Awalé is managing the Odienné Project JV in the initial three-year phase.

ARIC has 63 million shares outstanding, leading to a $16 million market cap. Newmont has a 15% equity stake in the company and currently owns 51% of the JV upon $5 million in exploration in 2023 and 2024. An additional $10 million in exploration expenses is to be made by Newmont to earn another 14%. So with 35% ownership of the JV, ARIC is at little risk of further dilution in the near future. We expect this stock to be north of $0.50 in the near to mid-term. 

Disclosure: We are long ARIC.V