Rua Gold Inc. (TSXV: RUA, OTC: NZAUF, WKN: H8E)
An Emerging Gold Explorer with Two Highly Prospective Land Packages in New Zealand’s historical gold fields.
The price of gold hit a record high of $2,450.05 in the second quarter of this year. Strong buying from central banks, especially China, Turkey and India, as well as the strong purchasing power of retailers despite the high price of gold, provided support for the price of the precious metal. A slowdown in outflows from Western exchange-traded funds in March and April also helped to drive the upward movement.
When gold prices have risen in March, investors have often complained that gold stocks have underperformed compared to gold. However, one junior gold stock on the TSX Venture Exchange has generated a four-digit return for investors in the first half of this year, which is Adyton Resources (TSXV:ADY).
By the close of trading on 26 June 2024, the price of this gold stock, with a market cap of just C$23.8 million, was up a cumulative 1,100% in the past six months.
Adyton Resources is working to advance its Feni Island and Fergusson Island gold projects in Papua New Guinea. Feni Island has a long history of exploration, with 212 holes totalling 18,813 metres drilled. While the work carried out by Adyton has been limited, the 2021 resource estimate report indicates an inferred gold reserve of 1.46 million ounces at the property. The company has been working on expanding its gold resources and exploring for copper at greater depths than previously explored.
The company’s share price rose in late April when it announced that it had closed a C$1.5 million financing round and restarted exploration at Feni Island, reaching a yearly high of C$0.16 on 5 May.
On 26 June, the company reported that new drill targets had been identified following analysis of historical airborne magnetic and radiometric survey data, and that Adyton Resources was preparing for follow-on field work and accelerated drilling of these targets.
Meanwhile, Adyton has also been working to raise funds for the Fergusson Island project as well. On 13 May, the company announced that it had signed a binding investment and development agreement with East Vision International Holdings. Under the agreement, East Vision will contribute $8.5 million towards the project’s development costs and $1 million to Adayton in exchange for a 50 per cent stake in the project.
The project consists of two targets, Wapolu and Gameta, which already have two advanced exploration licences. The two targets have a combined indicated resource of approximately 173,000 ounces from 4 million tonnes of gold ore at an average grade of 1.33 g/t gold. Inferred resources are approximately 540,000 ounces from 16.3 million tonnes of gold ore at an average grade of 1.02 g/t.
In addition to Adyton Resources, another stock on the TSX Venture Exchange, Black Mammoth Metals (TSXV:BMM), has also had a strong year, with shares up 959 per cent through the end of June.
