The Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL) share price is out of form on Thursday and is sinking lower again.
At the time of writing the gold-focused mineral exploration company's shares are down 6% to $1.32.
This latest decline means the Bellevue Gold share price is now down over 11% since hitting a record high of $1.49 on Monday.
Why is the Bellevue Gold share price sinking lower?
Investors have been selling the company's shares over the last few days after a meaningful pullback in the gold price.
This has been driven by news of a potentially effective COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer, which has given risk sentiment a boost and put pressure on safe haven assets.
The impact has been so great that it has overshadowed a positive update by the company this week in relation to its resource estimate at its Bellevue Gold Project in Western Australia.
According to the release, the company's drilling activities have resulted in its indicated resource increasing by 20% to 1.04 million ounces of gold at 11.4 grams per tonne.
Management believes the increased estimate will further strengthen the baseline economic study now underway on the project, providing scope for longer mine life, an increased production profile, and stronger financial returns.
Bellevue Gold's Managing Director, Steve Parsons, commented: "This is an outstanding result which demonstrates the exceptional quality of the mineralised system at Bellevue. To have an Indicated Resource of this size and this grade and with such immense scope for further increases highlights the underlying strength of the project."
Is this a buying opportunity?
One broker that believes the recent weakness in the Bellevue Gold share price is a buying opportunity is Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
This morning its analysts have responded to its updated resource estimate by retaining their outperform rating and lifting the price target on the company's shares to $1.55.
This price target implies potential upside of over 17% for its shares over the next 12 months.
