Troilus Gold (TLG) - High Grade Gold Drives Even Lower Capex Resource

Troilus Gold is a Canadian-based junior mining company focused on the systematic advancement and de-risking of the past-producing Troilus gold and copper mine, moving into production. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. 

Matt Gordon caught up with Justin Reid, President, CEO, and Director, Troilus Gold.

Justin is a geologist and a capital market executive with over 2 decades of experience with an exclusive focus in the mineral resource space. He previously served as the Executive General Manager at Paladin Energy and Managing Director at Global Mining Sales at National Bank Financial. He also served as the President and Director of Sulliden Gold Corp. and Managing Director at Aguia Resources Ltd. His educational credentials include a B.Sc. degree from the University of Regina, an M.Sc. from the University of Toronto, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. 

Company Overview

Troilus Gold is a development stage resource company focused on the mineral expansion and potential mine restart of the formerly producing Troilus gold and copper mine, located within the Frotêt-Evans Greenstone Belt in Quebec. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: TLG), and the OTC Markets (OTCQX: CHXMF). 

Troilus Gold is a $150M developer with a current cash flow of $55M. The company is drilling at a pace of 12,000m on a monthly basis. It is developing the large, long-life open-pit Troilus mine. This mine has an 8.1Moz resource as of 2020. Since the last resource update, the company has carried out an excess of 100,000m in drilling. A new resource update is planned shortly followed by a PFS (Pre-Feasibility Study). The Troilus mine is a low-capital, high-return project in a mining-friendly jurisdiction. 

Major Technical Developments

Troilus Gold made 2 major technical developments in 2021 which are expected to add significant value to its deposit. 

At the northernmost orebody, the J Zone, the company discovered and delineated 850m, this site is called the J Zone Hanging Wall. This site extends from the edge of the ore body, running parallel across the entire resource. This zone was previously modeled as waste, however, its currently provided reserves of 12-15m of 4.5g located within large envelopes of 30m-40m of 2g. 

The J Zone is a 1g orebody while the new shallow zone runs a significant strike length, replacing waste with high-grade ore. This has resulted in a drop in the strip ratio along with a boost in overall grade and project economics.  

The company is focusing on sequencing the higher-grade material early at its open-pit mine, enabling it to repay capital faster, leading to a positive impact on the NAV (Net Asset Value). 

The second development is a discovery located 3km southwest of the main deposit. The southernmost hole returned 15m of 3.5g gold at the surface. The company also found 7m of 6g deposits, the highest grades observed throughout the camp so far. Troilus Gold has utilized 2 rigs to drill 400m towards the south of the main deposit and has added a significant supply to its existing resource. 

Capital Raise Considerations

Troilus Gold isn't looking to raise additional capital in the near term. This is because its previous $35M capital raise provided the resources to carry out continued drilling operations for the next 18-24 months. This capital raise was a bought deal through the offering of units and flow-through units. 

The company is looking to grow its resource and add value before a planned PFS in February 2022. The Troilus mine is a low-grade, bulk-tonnage ore body. This provides the company optionality to further improve the economics and scale of the operation. An added advantage of a Quebec-based operation is that the province is pro-mining, which makes running operations and acquiring permits significantly easier. 

The company's large institutional investors include Investissement Quebec and La Caisse. These investors are financing the deposit and supporting the company's team. Troilus Gold's 5 largest shareholders include large Canadian, US, and European funds.

The company plans to drill up to 12,000m per month through 4 rigs on-site. The main focus for the drilling operation is in the southwest and at the Hanging Wall extension within the J Zone. It also has 1 drill testing out new regional targets at the deposit. 

Troilus Gold is working towards delivering a world-class goldmine in Canada. It is looking to reach a 35,000t/day target with an annual supply of 250,000oz gold. Stage 2 of the operation will target a 50,000t/day supply similar to the Malartic mine, the second-largest gold mine in Canada. The company will continue to add size and scale to the resource. 

Since 2019, Troilus Gold has added 6.6Moz gold. The asset hasn't observed a large amount of penetration and the company is focused on expanding its drilling targets while simultaneously de-risking the project. 

The company has the required permits and funding to build a mine. It will come out with a new resource and a PFS by mid-2022, leading to further de-risking of the project.

To find out more, go to the Troilus Gold Website