Proactive Investors - Western Exploration Inc (TSX-V:WEX, OTCQX:WEXPF) is a precious metals exploration company with more than two decades of history advancing projects in Nevada.
CEO Darcy Marud joined Proactive on the floor at PDAC 2024 to discuss recent positive findings at the company’s flagship Aura project, located in Elko County, Nevada, and its plans to kick off drilling at the property in June to expand on these results.
Proactive: Tell us a little about the company and the flagship Aura project.
DM: Western Exploration is about 25 years old and was private for 22 of those years. We made a significant discovery in northeastern Nevada called the Aura project, exploring there since 1997. In 2022, we went public and this year, we made a significant high-grade discovery that is the focus of exploration going forward.
Tell us about the discovery and the confidence it gives you in the asset.
We had a resource for gold and silver, but this year, we did several drill holes and found very high grades up to 257 grams per ton of gold and almost 3 kilograms of silver adjacent to the known resource. This gives us confidence in the grade improvement and potential resource size increase. Going forward it would be our goal to do extra drilling to connect the dots there, bring the two resources together and bulk up what we already have.
What's the long-term goal for the project?
Right now, we're focused on exploration. We're all geologists. Our goal is to find gold, and we're doing a good job of that. We'll consider construction decisions or passing it on as it grows.
What's the next milestone for the project?
We've had drill results and metallurgy in January that were well received by the market. We're planning a drilling phase starting in late June to expand last year's results.
Are you fully funded, or will you need to go back to the market?
We'll need to go back to the market, but we are going back with a solid plan that is drill-focused.
How's the sentiment here at PDAC, given the tough years in the junior market?
There's always optimism among geologists. The $2,100 gold price today helps. Coming together here builds solutions and positive sentiment.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and style