What was in the announcement?

The company announced that initial diamond drilling had commenced at its 100% owned Aarnivalkea East gold target on the large Paana tenement in Finland. The mine is located 20km northwest of a 9 million ounce gold mine that is owned by another company.

The first drill test had revealed gold grades of up to 10.7 grams per tonne, accompanied by arsenic and bimuth, which can help in identifying a path to gold.

Drilling had been scheduled to start in March but had been delayed due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The drilling is being undertaken by the company's European-based workers, with virtual oversight by its Australian personnel until they are able to resume international travel.

The initial drilling program will consist of approximately ten diamond core holes, these are to be drilled on 3–4 traverses across the previously identified trend. The initial drilling will take about 3–4 weeks to be completed. According to the announcement, the site can be accessed year round for follow up drilling. 

About the S2 Resources share price 

S2 resources is a greenfields gold and base metals explorer. The company has exploration activities in Australia and Finland. According to the company, its exploration is based in mine-friendly areas. The S2 team primarily consists of former directors from Sirius Resources, which had success in nickel exploration.

The company recently discovered two gold prospects in Finland, one of which is being drilled currently.

At the end of the March quarter, S2 resources had $7.3 million cash plus 31% ownership of Todd River Resources Ltd (ASX: TRT). The company continued drilling for gold in Finland while drilling for nickel at two sites in Western Australia.

The S2 Resources share price is up 97% from its 52 week low of $0.066, and while it is flat on the start of 2020 it is up 18% since this time last year.

The post The S2 Resources share price soared 23% yesterday as gold drilling starts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What did Todd River Resources announce?

Todd River Resources announced on Wednesday that it had entered an agreement to acquire 100% of 2 private companies – Marlee Base Metals Pty Ltd and Moonknight Pty Ltd. Following the acquisitions, the company will hold a 270km² land position in the South West Yilgarn Craton, Western Australia.

According to the announcement, this land has numerous nickel-copper bodies over more than 40km of strike extent. The key project area is the Berkshire Valley Project, which is located 100km north of a recent discovery of nickel, copper and platinum at Julimar by Chalice Gold Mines Limited (ASX: CHN).

One of the acquisitions also includes the ownership of 3 additional nickel, cobalt and copper targets in Western Australia. 

The company will pay cash of $100,000 for the acquisitions along with scrip of 100,000,001 Todd River Resources shares. A director from one of the companies acquired, Ian Murray, also the former managing director of Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR), will join the Todd River Resources board.

The transaction will be subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting. If the transaction is approved, the company plans to start exploration immediately.

How has Todd River Resources performed recently?

Todd River Resources is an exploration company that holds a portfolio of base metals and gold exploration assets in Australia.

According to the company's most recent quarterly report, Todd River Resources ended the quarter with $1.55 million in cash (as at 31 March 2020). In that quarter, the company completed design of geological programs that were ready to be implemented at its Nanutarra Nickel and Mt Hardy projects. Additionally, while there had been some delay in exploration at Mt Hardy due to travel restrictions, an aircore drilling program to test extension of a known anomalism had been designed and was planned to be commenced in the third quarter. 

Due to the economic impacts of the coronavirus, directors of the company saw a 40% pay cut for the final quarter of the 2020 financial year. The company predicted that spending would be subdued for the next 2 quarters, but that it would recommence exploration activities at the earliest opportunity. 

About the Todd River Resources share price

At the time of writing, Todd River Resources shares are up 387.5% from their 52-week low of $0.008 cents. The Todd River Resources share price has returned 95% since the beginning of the year, but is down by 2.5% since this time last year. 

The post Todd River Resources share price up 50% in 2 days after acquisition news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.