Today, the Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price is up almost 5% following the release of an exploration update by the company. The update reported strong drilling results from its Havieron and Red Chris sites. It's preparing to expand known mineralisation during a time when gold is fetching $1733.31 per ounce.
Havieron
Newcrest commenced drilling at its Havieron Western Australia site in June 2019 and has continued to increase drilling activity since. It currently has 9 drill rigs in operation at the site with 20,200 metres drilled since the end of March 2019. This project is operated under a farm-in agreement and Newcrest now holds a 40% interest. Newcrest can earn up to a 70% joint venture interest in the project should it invest US$65 million and meet a series of exploration and development milestones by 2026.
According to the announcement, the drilling conducted at Havieron will expand known mineralisation by a further 220m. It also saw the best significant intercept at Havieron to date with 109m at 6.3g of gold per tonne.
In the report, Newcrest Managing Director and CEO, Sandeep Biswas said,
"We are excited by the drilling results at Havieron and Red Chris. At Havieron we have returned our best drill result to date and with the step out drilling result we see real potential to further expand this orebody. Getting underground is now the priority and we continue to progress the work to commence decline development by the end of this calendar year or early 2021."
Red Chris
The Red Chris site is located in Canada and is a joint venture with Newcrest holding a 70% interest. The company has had an interest in this site since August 2019. Newcrest reported a total of 10,686 metres of drilling has been completed since the March quarter. Since the company entered the joint venture, this has equated to 40,069 metres of drilling.
Drilling at Red Chris has been separated into 2 campaigns, one at the East Zone and one at Brownfields Exploration. The report stated, "Infill drilling at Red Chris has confirmed continuity of high grade within East Zone'. This positive news may have contributed to the increase in the Newcrest share price.
About the Newcrest share price
The Newcrest share price is up 44% from its 52 week low of $20.70. It is slightly up from its $29.82 price at the beginning of 2020. The Newcrest share price was looking hopeful before the coronavirus crisis hit. It has since recovered and is now $29.87 at the time of writing.
