In March of this year, the crew at Ramp Metals (RAMP.V) set about plunging a drill or two into a relatively unknown Saskatchewan property called Rottenstone SW.
It’s no secret that Saskatchewan, as a province, is largely known in mining circles for uranium. But the Ramp crew thought they might find high-grade nickel, copper, and platinum group elements underground, being as that’s historically what came out of a mine 42kms to the northeast, and they did their early marketing as a company on painting themselves as a green energy metal company.
In fact, the news release they put out announcing their initial drill program only talked of nickel, copper, and platinum, referencing how similar the project appeared to the Australian Nova nickel-copper-cobalt operation, which they said had similarities to the Rottenstone.
“After receiving the data from our geophysics program, we noticed similarities between our eye structure and the Nova Eye that was discovered by Dr. Mark Bennett at Sirius Resources,” said CEO J0rdan Black on March 28. “The team is excited about the potential of these drill targets and making a brand new discovery in Saskatchewan.”
Well, they sure did make a discovery, but it wasn’t what they expected.
When they picked through the drill core, they found little nickel, copper, or PGEs, instead notching one of the better gold drill holes announced this year, gifting them a brand new discovery that has suddenly pegged Saskatchewan as gold country.
The Ranger-01 discovery hole showed multiple gold zones, including 73.55 grams per tonne gold and 19.50 g/t silver over 7.5 metres which, by our internal definition, qualifies as a bonanza hole.
The results catapulted Ramp from a $5m company to a $20m company in the weeks since. a jump that has held pretty well, considering.
“As a result of the discovery, the company is planning to shift its focus from battery metals to gold exploration,” said a company news release.
RAMP GOLD?
“We are thrilled to make a significant gold discovery and be the first mover in a potential new gold district,” said CEO Jordan Black.
“While gold wasn’t what we were looking for out there, this just goes to show what can happen when you actually go out and test a new target,” said Garrett Smith, vice-president, exploration. “It also highlights the importance of assaying every metre of core that is drilled, as this discovery could have easily been missed otherwise. We look forward to following up on these results and showing the true potential of this new gold discovery in Saskatchewan.”
Now, none of this is to suggest there ISN’T nickel, copper and platinum group elements on the Rottenstone property. In fact, it’s located along a regional northeast-southwest structure from the historic Rottenstone mine, which produced 40,000 tons of high-grade nickel-copper-platinum-group-elements PLUS gold ore in the past, grading 3.28 per cent Ni, 1.83 per cent Cu and 9.63 g/t platinum-palladium-gold.
And if further drilling zeroes in on that structure, Ramp is in really good shape to pursue those metals -as well as the shiny stuff.
But to drop the first drill right in the middle of a fat gold cluster has made everyone take notice, and others have been quick to ring-claim the area around Ramp’s project in the expectation/hope that they find more.
In fact, Ramp laid claim to a bunch more ground themselves. [see right].
Drills at the Rogue target, a few kilometres away from the Ranger, were less sparkly but also showed gold and silver, giving credence to the thinking that the Ranger wasn’t a one-off.
What’s Next:
The company is currently in the permitting and consultation process, looking to engage in geophysical, mapping, and sampling in the short term, with a follow-up drill program in the fall and winter likely, to fill in multi-element gaps.
I’m just an interested bystander here, so this news isn’t part of any promote.
If they can parlay the hero hole into more good showings, this is a cheap valuation going forward.
Watchlist.
— Chris Parry
FULL DISCLOSURE: Not a client, though we’ve talked and there’s a chance that situation may change at some point. Do your due diligence.
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