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Hawthorne Gold Update

Posted by Peter Grandich at 9:28 AM on Friday, September 18th, 2009

Since my last discussion on Hawthorne Gold Corp., back in July 2009, Hawthorne has completed the expected milestones at their Cassiar Gold Camp, made progress to bring this prolific gold camp back into production, and even made some other interesting finds and announcements.

Cassiar Gold Camp

The proven management team has taken the right steps to commence a thorough review of the gold camp and has stayed away from doing what previous operators have done by just turning the mill on and struggling to deliver feed. Hawthorne’s group is committed to developing the resources as they commence production through a well developed systematic approach. The management group has spent close to $10M to complete a full consolidation of the Cassiar greenstone belt, bought out companies who had ownership in the area, flown a property-wide aeromag geophysics program, completed a fully digital geological model, brought on top notch industry board advisors, commenced a systematic business plan to grow the resource portfolio to prepare for production at the Cassiar Gold Mine and built a solid corporate development team for mergers and acquisitions.

Hawthorne is advancing towards production for early in 2010 and is ensuring they do their homework before commencing production.  In late July the Company commenced underground development to advance to the underground workings to the East Bain gold zone to make ready for stope development.  They have seemingly passed the underground problem area that the previous operator ran into with some bad ground and getting close to reaching the gold zone. Remember this is an established mining camp and they own 100%.  The camp includes a PERMITTED 300 tpd gravity/flotation mill and tailings impoundment facility that would likely cost $20-$30 million to replace.  The camp also has a year- round 45 person camp so the work can continue into the winter of 2009/2010.

Two months ago, the Company commenced diamond drilling to define higher grade zones at surface at their 100% owned Taurus deposit (where currently a lower grade million ounce deposit sits) to use as potential supplemental feed for the permitted mine and mill facility.  They completed the third phase of drilling, commenced the bulk sample on time and have already started to stockpile mineralized material next to the mill.  Of special note they have commenced Phase IV of their drill program up at Table Mountain and they hope to see some nice results soon from that area of the property.

I’m told the Company’s board advisors recently visited the Cassiar Gold Camp and are challenging the previous operator’s historical view of the structural controlling features, which were responsible for the high grade gold being mobilized into the large veins on the property.  I am far from fully understanding what is being discussed by their technical team but it seems the controlling feature may be different from what were previously interpreted leaving new exploration opportunities. The thought apparently is it now could be compared to the Mother lode District in California or the Timmins mining camp/greenstone belt in Ontario/Quebec, Canada.
Also the exploration team is planning to test priority targets at depth; of note the camp has never been tested at depths where Hawthorne plans to drill.  Will be interesting to see what is beneath this prolific camp to depth…

Frasergold

On the Frasergold subject, I have spoken to management and the NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Estimate they commenced a number of months ago is expected very shortly and will finally showcase the resource opportunity after two seasons of surface drilling.  The project’s objective was to define a gold resource along the Main Zone, which lies within a 6 mile mineralized strike length that was historically drilled and where gold was identified. The Frasergold area could become interesting due to the potential gold resources at Frasergold combined with the junior companies in the area, as you could have the makings of a significant gold camp with upside potential that could interest the majors.

As Hawthorne continues to advance their business plan I would expect a continued strong flow of news releases highlighting their drilling, development and corporate activity. Hawthorne is not out only to build a 25,000 ounce per year producer, but have put together a solid team of technical mining professionals and recently made two new Board appointments that should assist in the ongoing merger and acquisitions strategy.  These two new additions bring the specific experience that I believe can fit nicely into their team and their backgrounds clearly show what they can offer.

Hawthorne currently has no debt, has approximately 74 million shares issued and trades under the symbol HGC on the Toronto Venture Exchange and HWTHF on the Pink Sheets in the United States.

Posted in All Posts, Base Metals, Copper, Exploration Shares, Gold, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares, Precious Metals, Silver, US Stocks | 2 Comments »

Hawthorne Gold Commences 2009 Program – Countdown to Production!

Posted by Peter Grandich at 8:01 AM on Monday, July 20th, 2009

Hawthorne Gold Corp. Getting Ready For Production at Cassiar Gold Mine

Hawthorne Gold Corp. recently announced an aggressive exploration and development program at their Cassiar Gold Camp in northern British Columbia, Canada. What we all need to understand about this project is that it appears to have all the merits of a winning strategy to get into production and continue to develop into a solid junior gold company.  For those who don’t realize what Hawthorne controls up at the Cassiar Gold Camp, I shall touch on some of the key assets and points that make this a company you need to watch closely.

 

Management / Mergers & Acquisitions, Infrastructure, Blue Sky Opportunity, Upcoming Production – A winning combination.

The management team over at Hawthorne have a history of building companies, putting mines into production, successfully operating them, and finding new opportunities.  The group, to mention just a few, consists of Michael Beley, Richard Barclay, Michael Petrina, John Dadds, and their new Board advisor, Jack McClintock.  We all know how the Beley/Barclay team has been successful in putting the pieces together to build solid gold mining companies (co-founding Bema Gold/Eldorado Gold for example).  Michael Petrina, their VP Mining, brings a wealth of mine engineering experience Their Exploration Manager, John Dadds, came up from Barrick’s Eskay Creek Gold Mine, right down the highway from the Cassiar Gold Camp, where he acted as their senior geologist. Behind the scenes is Jack McClintock, who joined as a Board Advisor a few months ago with one specific task…assist in advancing their merger and acquisition strategy by identify projects that are undervalued, distressed, offer upside potential.  Mr. McClintock mining credentials speak for themselves.

Infrastructure – and lots of it!

Let me make things clear.  This is an established mining camp and they own 100%.  The camp includes a 300 tpd gravity/flotation mill and tailings impoundment facility that would likely cost $20-$30 million to replace, it is PERMITTED, and they have a solid relationship in place with the local First Nations group.  The property consists of 16 miles of underground workings, 13 adits (entrances to the mine), and close to 15 miles of roads throughout their property to gain access for drilling and exploration. There is an available airstrip that staff can fly directly into less than 6 miles from camp and the main highway runs right through their property.  This 40 person fully operational exploration camp is not remote by any means!

Blue Sky Opportunity – the drills are turning already and going deep?

After speaking with management, their technical team had a busy winter season putting together a comprehensive geological model that has highlighted some interesting targets directly at the Table Mountain area, regionally across their significant land position (135,000+ acres), and to depth (which it has never been drill tested).  This type of consolidation of both the data and camp has never been done before and can bring some excitement to the drill season. I believe this to be an incredible opportunity for the qualified technical team at Hawthorne.  This model, combined with geophysics, reconnaissance exploration exercises, and the money to drill targets (30,000+ feet this summer) should open up this camp like it has never been seen before.  Of interest is the fact they plan on drilling some targets to depth.  Why is this interesting?  The Erikson Creek Fault zone, which cuts right through their property and where gold has been found for 40 years, has never been tested below the surface horizon landscape of 650-1000 feet.  This camp has seen significant high grade deposits that were mined where some zones had grades of multi-ounce per ton and off the chart. The gold, which mobilized into the camp through the numerous faults and offsetting geological structures, came from some source that has never been found, and indications point to a potential feeder at depth. Management has indicated certain faults and cross-cutting linear structures identified from geophysics in 2008, are expected to be tested up to 2000 feet in depth. The potential for some interesting drill hole results from the camp this year appear good.

And before I forget they still have the Frasergold project.  They are currently completing a NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Estimate After two seasons of surface drilling they are looking to define a gold resource along the Main Zone, which lies within a 6 mile mineralized strike length that was historically drilled and where gold was identified. This camp is something you may want to watch closely due to the potential of a significant gold camp rising out of the pine beetle infested woods. If you zoom out about 25 miles to the west, the Spanish Mountain deposit contains a multi-million ounce deposit. This area can become interesting ff Frasergold defines even the beginning of a potential gold resource, as you could have the makings of a gold camp with upside potential that could interest the majors.

Getting ready for Production – looks on schedule!

Yes another reason to like this story – getting ready for production.  Hawthorne announced that they will be commencing underground development in the short term to advance the underground workings to the East Bain gold zone to make ready for stope development. Of interest, the infrastructure I discussed above provides the opportunity to be able to access all future discovered zones underground and with minimal capital expenditures.  The East Bain zone is about 500 feet from the existing underground workings, thus reducing initial costs to gain access and remove the gold.  From what I understand this development would take 60-90 days and could quickly gain access to the gold zone for underground mining in late 2009 / or early 2010.

This can also be a significant advantage if they continue to define new zones at Table Mountain, as with 13 adits or access points already developed, new developed gold pockets can be easily accessed.  This should play a key part in keeping costs down per ounce removed. They are also currently defining higher grade zones at surface at their 100% owned Taurus deposit (where currently a lower grade million ounce deposit sits) to use as potential supplemental feed for the permitted mine and mill facility. There are few mining operations that look to get into production this quickly, and for minimal capital expenditure.  Based on mill capacity and the compliant resource, it’s not unreasonable to think they could produce 15,000 to 20,000 ounces in the first year, and subsequently increase their production based on potential new gold zones discovered (as the mill can operate up to 100,000 tons per year).

As Hawthorne advances their strategy, one could expect a strong flow of news releases highlighting their drilling, development and corporate activity that can give the followers and shareholders a reason to watch closely each step of the way as the Company rolls out their business plan.  They’ve an aggressive bunch of technical mining professionals that seemingly never have a quiet day in their office.  Hawthorne has a very busy year ahead of them. I have a high confidence that they can have a great season.

 

An allotment of $0.30 shares came free trading on June 28th from a previous financing. As the free trading stock comes into the market, a good opportunity appears to have presented itself.

Posted in A Grandich Company, All Posts, Base Metals, Copper, Exploration Shares, Gold, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares, Nickel, Precious Metals, Silver, US Stocks | 5 Comments »

Grandich Interview

Posted by Peter Grandich at 4:56 PM on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

The Gold Report

Posted in A Grandich Company, All Posts, Base Metals, Copper, Exploration Shares, Gold, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares, Nickel, Oil, Precious Metals, Silver, Taseko Mines, U.S. Economy, US Dollar, US Stocks, Zinc, world economy | 32 Comments »

Update 1100:AM DST

Posted by Peter Grandich at 11:00 AM on Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I’m almost caught up after just a week away from the office. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it-lol

I want to say it was an absolute pleasure meeting so many blog followers at the Vancouver show. Your words of encouragement were very special to me. I always felt a sense of responsibility to my readers but after you meet so many personally, you come away with even more a desire not to screw up. Thanks again for all the kind words there and here on the blog.

There’s not much to update as yours truly has curled up into a fetal position-lol. I’m very content holding all metals related positions as I think we’re not even close to the explosive stage for precious metals and feel we’ve seen the lows for base metals.

I explained in Vancouver that after 25 years in this business and losing more money than I ever thought I would make as a youngster, I’ve learned to take profits, especially when they come much faster than expected. That’s why I advised taking profits in oil-related recommendations.

Since I’m basically a speculator/gambler, I’ve learned when you swing for the fences its best to have plenty of swings. Profits allow more swings.

I also feel quite comfortable holding my short treasuries and U.S. Dollar positions for the long term.

I’m extremely bearish on the belief that the U.S. economy can return to any real economic growth for years to come. Yes, a recovery is likely but what good will flat growth be anyway? It’s my belief that a multi-year trading range can develop between the lows around DJIA 6500 and 10,500 on the upside. I think the play is to await some a run to the top of the range before going short. If we simply go back towards the lows again I will once again consider the long side depending on the then current fundamental and technical outlooks.

In regards to the few open buy positions and Grandich Clients, here are my latest views:

Taseko Mines – Please see most recent comments

Continental Minerals – Buy up to $1.20. Stock appears to be consolidating recent gains.

Nevsun Resources – Would be a break out on a close above $1.60

All remaining positions in model portfolio are holds.

ATW Gold – The market seems to be realizing that they’re on the threshold of becoming a significant producer and still have excellent exploration potential.

Apella Resources – Still waiting on new developments.

Bravo Venture Group – Soon to be drilling again and the Homestake project is the homerun swing.

Crosshair Exploration – Has lifted off lows thanks to renewed interest in Uranium.

Donner Metals – The Rodney Dangerfield of juniors has finally received a little respect. Here’s to it continuing.

Farallon Mining – The name change says it all. It’s now a producer.

Hawthorne Gold – It too is set to drill and we wait in anticipation of good news.

Knight Resources – Another kick at the can this summer. Here’s to a big kick!

Northern Dynasty Minerals – Is consolidating recent run and is a buy if it gets below $7 again.

Oromin Explorations – Management continues to drill for gold and not investors. This may hurt now but pay off in the future.

Silvermex Resources – Is under review and I hope to have an update out soon.

Sunridge Gold- Just had an update today.

Timmins Gold – Onward and upward towards production now with financings all in place.

Posted in All Posts, Apella Resources, Base Metals, Bravo Venture Group, Copper, Crosshair Exploration, Donner Metals, Exploration Shares, Farallon Resources, Gold, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares, Nickel, Northern Dynasty, Oil, Precious Metals, Silver, Sunridge Gold, Taseko Mines, Timmins Gold, U.S. Economy, US Dollar, US Stocks, Uranium, Vanadium, Zinc, world economy | 8 Comments »

Hawthorne Gold Update

Posted by Peter Grandich at 7:09 PM on Friday, March 13th, 2009

After spending more than 12 months analyzing and digitizing some 40 years of geological data from the Table Mountain Gold Mine, the Hawthorne team is now preparing for a very busy 2009 field season (which should begin in upcoming months with a aggressive drill program and the advancement of the project through to production later in 2009). Through this exhaustive exercise, numerous overlooked drill targets have been identified, which the Company believes can potentially lead to the discovery of new sources of high grade zones.

Helping expedite their production plans will be the recent completion of a $6.2 million private placement. The Company originally planned to raise $3 million, but due to strong demand for the issue, the Company was able to more than double the initial offering. Armed with capital, Hawthorne can now aggressively execute its business plan, and prepare the Mine for production as scheduled. Remember, this mine is already permitted, has great relations with First Nations, has a fully operational 300 tpd mill, a tailings pond, local airstrip down the road, main highway through property, 25 kilometres of underground workings and of course 13 access adits.  Talk about infrastructure!

Led by Richard Barclay and Michael Beley of Bema and Eldorado fame, the Company plans to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The current global economic environment has created many “golden” opportunities that the Company is actively reviewing.

Posted in A Grandich Company, All Posts, Exploration Shares, Gold, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares | 1 Comment »

Hawthorne Gold Corp.: Proven Management, Proven Gold Camps, Gold Production in 2009

Posted by jojo at 2:29 PM on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

I am pleased to welcome Hawthorne Gold back as a client after a brief hiatus in 2008. As many of you know I hold a lot of respect for the management team of Michael Beley and Richard Barclay who, aside from being the founders of Hawthorne they were also the founders of both Bema Gold and Eldorado Gold. They have been together for nearly 40 years and are considered by many as true patriarchs to the Canadian Mining scene. Knowing that they have done it all before and have done it successfully speaks volumes in terms of building a new gold company.

Gold in Quartz Vein from Cassiar Gold Property

Gold in Quartz Vein from Cassiar Gold Property

Hawthorne Gold Corp. is a Canadian-based gold exploration and development company with key properties located in British Columbia, Canada. Hawthorne’s goal is to become a gold producer in late 2009 and to continue resource development at the nearby Taurus deposit, as well as the Frasergold deposit in the Cariboo region of south central British Columbia.

Exploring and Developing in Proven Gold Camps

Cassiar Gold Camp

The Cassiar Gold Camp hosts the permitted Table Mountain gold mine, consisting of a 300 ton-per-day gravity flotation mill, power plant and tailings pond. Historical gold production from the camp amounted to just under 500,000 ounces at a gold grade of roughly 15 g/t Au (0.5 oz/ton Au). Gold mineralization at Table Mountain is primarily hosted in extensive quartz-carbonate-gold vein systems strongly associated with thrust faulting within altered greenstone and/or altered carbonatized ultramafic volcanic assemblages that are typical of some of Canada’s largest gold camps, including Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Val d’Or.

The Cassiar property also hosts the Taurus project, consisting of bulk-tonnage, low-grade gold deposits located on strike and approximately five kilometres north of the Table Mountain mine. The Taurus deposits host an NI 43-101 compliant inferred gold resource estimate of 1.04 million ounces consisting of 32.4 million tonnes at a gold grade of 1.0 g/t.

Table Mountain Mine and Taurus Deposit

Table Mountain Mine

Hawthorne took control of the Cassiar Gold Camp in April 2008, through a merger with Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. and got to work right away.  Over the ensuing year the Company reached many goals by:

  1. Completing  a camp consolidation, by staking an area totaling 56,300 hectares surrounding the existing Table Mountain Gold Mine
  2. Commenced the compilation of a geological digital model of all available data from the past 40 years of the previous mining operations and exploration projects within the camp
  3. Completed a detailed property-wide geophysical survey
  4. Completed a reconnaissance exploration exercise to quickly “ground truth” priority areas in preparation for 2009
  5. Completed a 15-hole (2,536 metres) diamond drill program on the East Bain Zone where drilling has returned promising results including 2.45 meters grading 38.17g/t Au, 6.32 metres grading 13.50 g/t Au, and 2.21 metres grading 17.92 g/t Au.

The Table Mountain mine site consists of a permitted and operating mill and tailings facility, 13 adits/portals and over 25 km (15 miles) of underground infrastructure.  Highway #37 runs directly through the property and the Cassiar airstrip is also accessible about 10 km (6 miles) from the mine site.

Taurus Deposit

The Taurus project is a large-tonnage, low-grade gold deposit. It is a former producer and has been explored for approximately 25 years. It is an advanced-stage exploration target, a former high-grade small underground gold mine, which was operated in the early 1950s and again in the early 1980s.

Attention then turned to a large low-grade mineralized zone, where approximately 370 holes have been drilled. Company research indicates there may be strategic higher grade zones that can be stockpiled as supplemental mill feed as the Table Mountain Mine prepares to go into production in late 2009.

Cariboo Gold Camp – Frasergold Project

The Frasergold Property is located in the historic Quesnel Trough of central British Columbia, approximately 60 miles east of Williams Lake, BC. The property is road accessible by a series of paved and gravel surfaced roads and recent logging activities have provided a series of tracks that provide good access to most of the exploration areas on the property. The Frasergold mineralization appears to fit the orogenic lode-gold deposit type. Higher-grade gold tends to occur in quartz veins with coarse particulate gold occurring in quartz-rich segregations of stringers, veins, boudins and mullions. Pervasive low grade gold mineralization is also found within the host knotted phyllite strata where quartz is absent.

History

Initial exploration in the early 1980’s revealed a 10 kilometer long zone containing anomalous gold values from soil and rock geochemical surveys. Between 1980 and 1994 it is estimated that $7.76 million has been expended on the exploration of the Frasergold Property. A total of 35,967 metres of drilling in 328 holes has been completed on the property, along with 298 meters of underground drifts to provide access for bulk sampling and metallurgical testing. Most of the holes were shallow and concentrated on defining the known mineralized areas. There has been minimal exploration work completed between 1994 and 2007, when Hawthorne commenced its work program.

During 2007 and 2008, the Company completed two diamond drill programs, consisting of 16 holes (3,617 metres) and 58 holes (10,405 metres), respectively. Results to date continue to return positive assays, both in low grade and high grade intervals. Of note, 54% of all holes encountered visible gold in the core and within the northwest zone 83% of the holes encountered visible gold.

The Company is compiling the remainder of the assays, and has commenced a NI 43-101 Resource Esitmate Technical Report in the area of 2007/08 drilling. This report will serve as the starting point to determine the next steps in the continued exploration of the project. Diamond drilling, to date, has returned promising results including 48.77 meters grading 5.84 g/t Au, 41.93 metres grading 1.50 g/t Au, and 85.34 metres grading 1.56 g/t Au.

Pursuant to an option agreement dated October 31, 2006 between Hawthorne and Eureka, Hawthorne can earn a 51% interest in the Frasergold property by completing sufficient exploration expenditures totaling $3.5 million (expended), completing a feasibility study by April 30, 2010 and making cash payments totaling $175,000 ($125,000 paid to date) before October 31, 2009. Hawthorne can earn a further 9% (for a total of 60%) by arranging financing for 70% of the estimated capital costs for production.

Positive Outlook for Hawthorne in 2009

Hawthorne’s experienced operations team intends to focus on expanding the gold resources within the Table Mountain Camp through a systematic approach of prioritizing exploration targets and evaluating opportunities for defining additional ounces of gold. The goal is to initially firm up resources that would provide for two years of production at the Table Mountain Mine, which is estimated to commence at an annualized production rate of approximately 20-25,000 ounces. The geological and technical team would then focus on identifying additional new ounces to ensure the mine remains in operation. As indicated above, the Taurus Deposit could potentially offer additional mill feed from near surface high grade zones, if necessary.

The Company is also focusing on the expansion of existing resources on its Taurus and Frasergold projects, and to fully examine the potential of the Cassiar Gold Camp including the Bain, Taurus II, Pete, Vollaug, Bear, Main Mine, Rory, The Gap, Sky, Cusac and new gold zones that may be discovered.

Hawthorne has continued to evaluate potential opportunities to acquire additional undervalued attractive gold projects in or close to production that could add to shareholder value.

With the combination of a favourable location in a prolific mining camp, a broad portfolio of exploration targets, and completion of a fully digital geological model, Hawthorne is confident that Table Mountain can be advanced to pre-production mine development in the latter part of 2009 and subsequently move into production.

VG through lens, Frasergold Property
VG through lens, Frasergold Property

For more information on Hawthorne Gold please visit www.hawthornegold.com or contact

Todd Hanas at 1-866-869-8072 or Robert Ferguson 1-604-629-1505

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Posted in A Grandich Company, Base Metals, Exploration Shares, Hawthorne Gold, Mining Shares, US Dollar | 5 Comments »