On August 4, 2020, after nearly a year of planning and prep work, Graycliff Exploration Limited (CSE:GRAY) (OTCQB:GRYCF) made its public debut, trading only a handful of shares at 30 Canadian cents. Come April 12, 2021, an upswell of interest in the new gold explorer and its Shakespeare project catapulted shares to a record high at C$2.86 with nearly 11 million shares in trading volume. Following a pullback from the high, shares are back on the rise as Graycliff commences a phase 3 drilling program at Shakespeare, using new technology to target areas that used to produce gold over 100 years ago.
The Shakespeare project is on the prolific Canadian Shield about 90 kilometres west of Sudbury, Ontario at the intersection of the Archean Southern and Superior geological provinces. The rich mining history means that all requisite infrastructure is available, including highways, water, electricity, and skilled workers.
At the centre of the roughly 850-hectare project lies the historic Shakespeare Mine, which produced 2,959 ounces of gold between 1903-1907. Production then came from six different underground areas centered around the Miller shaft which was specifically dug in its location because of the discovery of ore yielding $5,000 per tonne back when gold was just $20 an ounce.
Mothballed for decades, exploration at Shakespeare has been revived with surging gold prices in recent years. Armed with a new strategy and modern techniques, limited assays completed by others in 2014 returned up to 15.3 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) across four metres, including 1 metre grading 48.8 g/t Au.
Collating and culling all available data, Graycliff is now executing on its plan to prove and expand gold (and copper) resources hosted in quartz veins and stock works around the Miller Shaft and the “#3 adit”. The adit, an entrance through the side of a hill into the mine’s underground workings, is currently filled in, with Graycliff planning to re-open it to conduct underground drilling.
Graycliff’s exploration work aligns with historic work and expectations in showing high-grade gold. About 1,100 metres of drilling during a phase 1 program was highlighted by intersects of 8.59 g/t Au over 5.5 metres near surface, 5.51 g/t Au over 4.6 metres (also near surface), and 5.37 g/t gold across 5.0 metres.
The data was compelling enough that Graycliff last month more than doubled the size of its position in the region. The Toronto-based company acquired the adjacent Baldwin Project and additional claims that expanded the total land package to 2,525 hectares.
Results are starting to arrive from a 2,000-metre, 14-hole phase 2 drilling program completed at Shakespeare during April. Investors got a small sampling of what could be on the horizon with initial results (which came from only one part of the first hole being assayed) showing a cut of 66.98 g/t gold over 3.0 metres, including cuts of 90.0 g/t gold over 0.7 metres and 137.0 g/t gold over 1.0 metre. This morning, more results were announced with further high grade gold intervals near surface including 52 g/t gold over 4.0 metres.
More results should be arriving in short order as assays are completed. Normally, mining execs are very low key about titillating the public, but Macintosh has given reason for investors to move to the edge of their seats in anticipation of core results. He recently said that, in addition to the gold already reported, he personally saw gold in three more drill cores that will be analyzed.
The company is not sitting back waiting for more results to arrive. To accelerate exploration, Graycliff has brought in another drill rig to have two running to complete a 5,000-metre phase 3 drilling program. The strategy for targets remains fluid, with upcoming sites being determined by assay results and additional research ongoing.
What’s particularly interesting is that the drillers are shareholders of Graycliff. Talk about wanting skin in the game to participate in potential upside. In fact, most of the 18.3 million shares outstanding are tightly held in general by shareholders deeply committed to the company. In the words of Macintosh, "In about five or six phone calls, we can access over 60% of the shares."
Safe to say that each and every Graycliff shareholder will be watching their inbox daily as Q2 winds down for the next piece of news about developments from Ontario.
