Simon Mitchell

Southern Gold has secured tenure at another historic gold mining operation, building its impressive portfolio of epithermal gold-silver projects in South Korea. The Aphae project has produced nearly 4000 ounces of gold and lies within a significant alluvial gold field. The mineralisation is open along strike and at depth, with rock chip results returning grades up to 6.08g/t gold and 93g/t silver.

Southern Gold has completed a definitive farm-in and 50/50 JV Agreement with its partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures for the Gubong gold project in South Korea. Bluebird will deliver a feasibility report in July, outlining its preferred re-development options at the mine. The JV Agreement is triggered when the mine development framework presented by Bluebird to advance the project is deemed satisfactory to Southern Gold.

Southern Gold is now riding shotgun with Northern Star Resources after the multi-billion dollar miner took over Westgold’s South Kalgoorlie assets, including the Cannon underground mine. Southern said this week that its 5 year “right to mine” agreement with Westgold had been transferred to Northern Star and was unaffected by the transaction. The company will receive a revenue stream from Cannon this year.

Southern Gold has reported encouraging developments at its South Korea gold projects. At Gubong, the company’s JV partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has announced gold recoveries exceeding 90% from met test work. At the Kochang mine, Bluebird has completed an extensive mapping and sampling program of underground workings. Bluebird is evaluating the economic feasibility of re-opening the historic gold mines.

Southern Gold’s decision to swoop on a number of abandoned gold mines in South Korea in 2016 is paying off handsomely, with grab samples from historically blasted rock at the old Kochang mine returning up to 17.4 g/t gold. Southern’s partner in the project estimates that the broken rock could be processed for as little as $US60/tonne and yield a profit of around $US750/ounce.

Southern Gold keeps finding more high-grade gold left behind by previous operators of the Kochang mine in South Korea that was abandoned in 1975 when the gold price was just US$140 an ounce. A significant program to sample the underground vein systems at Kochang has found long strike lengths of mineralisation and returned assays at more than two ounces to the tonne.

Southern Gold’s Gubong JV gold project in South Korea could have low capital and operating costs if results from preliminary metallurgical testwork carried out by partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures is any indication. A study into the economic feasibility of re-opening the historic high-grade mine is due to be completed in July 2018. With samples going an ounce to the tonne Gubong is looking interesting.

Southern Gold has scored a bullseye with a new geological model for an area south of the historic Transfind pit, with first-pass drilling hitting gold in all 13 holes and producing a best result of 1m @ 133.67 g/t. The results have backed up hopes for shallow, very high-grade gold that could be trucked to a nearby plant and add to cashflow from the Cannon mine.

Southern Gold has intersected narrow widths of high grade gold mineralisation during its maiden diamond scout drilling program at the Hampyeong gold project in southwest Korea. The best intersection was 0.95m @ 5.33g/t gold from 32.6m depth in quartz veins. Mineralisation was noted over a strike of 750 metres and the company said that there were potential extensions along strike and down-dip for the main ore zones.

Southern Gold has been granted two interesting looking exploration tenements over the large Beopseongpo gold-silver epithermal target in South Korea’s Jeolla Province, which hosts the operating Eunsan-Moisan gold mine. Recent rock chip sampling at Beopseongpo, which has a strike length of 4km, returned grades of up to 21.8g/t gold and 19g/t silver from float material and 3g/t gold and 1g/t silver from outcrop.

ASX listed Southern Gold’s partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has delivered a positive report regarding the economics of re-opening the old Gubong gold mine in South Korea. The project could start gold production by late 2019. Pre-construction work has started that will lead to the completion of a full feasibility study for the processing plant and commencement of mining.

Southern Gold has added the Deokon gold-silver mine to its growing portfolio of high-grade projects in South Korea. Recent work by Southern at the historic mine has produced some bonanza gold and silver grades grades, suggesting that it may be part of a much larger system that has previously been overlooked. Southern is already producing gold near Kalgoorlie which is funding its blue sky foray into Korea.

Southern Gold’s project generation strategy for pinpointing epithermal gold and silver targets in South Korea is starting to bear fruit with the company outlining its fourth new project acquisition at Neungju. Recent rock chip sampling at the project produced grades up to 20.3g/t gold and 13g/t silver and follow on from the discovery of 18g/t gold and 270g/t silver rock chips from the historical Sonbul gold mine nearby.

Southern Gold’s JV partner in South Korea, Bluebird Merchant Ventures, is set to increase its pre-development activities at the historical Gubong gold mine over the next few months, including all necessary approvals and the granting of a “permit to develop” the underground operation. Progress is also reported for the Kochang JV, with Bluebird due to report on the feasibility of re-starting that underground mine in late October.

Southern Gold has reported some cracking high grade silver assays from underground sampling at its Shin Adit mine, part of the newly granted Deokon project tenements in Korea. Systematic sampling of underground drives produced results up to 0.4 metres grading 9.26g/t gold and 1,165g/t silver. The results effectively produce walk-up drill targets for the company at Deokon to be tested shortly with a diamond drilling program.

Southern Gold has used 3D modelling of mapped and sampled quartz veining at its Kochang underground mine in South Korea, to generate an exploration target of between 500,000 and 700,000 tonnes with a grade range between 5 and 7g/t gold and 27 - 35g/t silver. The company’s JV partner, Bluebird Ventures, is finalising its feasibility report on the reopening of the historical mine.

Southern Gold says that JV partner Bluebird Merchant Ventures has produced high recoveries of gold up to 80% and around 60% for silver, from simple gravity separation met test work at the Kochang project in South Korea. The company also said that a low CAPEX option for initial processing could result in early cash flows from the proposed Kochang operation, based on recoveries of precious metals via gravity techniques.

Southern Gold has signed a new agreement with Northern Star to acquire two strategic mining tenements at no cost, in order to facilitate development of the company’s Cannon underground gold resources near Kalgoorlie in WA. The agreement optimises the combined assets for a standalone mining operation or simple monetisation, as the gold mineralisation at Cannon plunges into the existing Northern Star lease.

Southern Gold has confirmed narrow, high grade gold/silver mineralisation from an underground infill and extensional channel sampling program at its emerging Weolyu South epithermal precious metal project in South Korea. Results included 0.45m @ 30g/t gold and 1,280g/t silver and 0.55m @ 28.9g/t gold and 1,350g/t silver. A re-assay of 2017 samples also provided a significant 30% uplift in gold grades from the original analyses.