Shareholders have finally learned why trading in
Officials of the Canadian Ventures Exchange cite the need for an operational audit of Wayside’s exploration activities, and they want independent verification of resource estimates and economic projections for the proposed mining operations on the Cariboo gold property in north-central British Columbia. They are also reviewing the company’s general disclosure practices.
In addition, they demanded that Wayside increase the technical expertise of its management and board of directors.
The junior has come under scrutiny since it announced the discovery of a previously unrecognized style of high-grade gold mineralization in the footwall of the BC quartz vein at Cariboo. The property is in the Barkerville area, where, in the 1860s, a placer gold mining rush occurred.
The company reported drill intercepts of up to 109 ft. with 0.309 oz. gold per ton in hole 13. However, several mining analysts have raised concerns about the method of core-sampling used and the general lack of security for core waiting to be logged. Especially questionable was the whole-core analysis of portions of reportedly mineralized core.
The latest results from two holes that undercut the high-grade mineralization failed to ease these concerns. Hole 14 cut 89.2 ft. grading 0.053 oz. gold, while hole 9 intersected 0.078 oz. gold over 56.5 ft.
Recently, the junior submitted an application to British Columbia’s environmental assessment office to develop a 3,000-ton-per-day open-pit operation based on a preliminary resource estimate for a property on nearby Cow Mountain. The resource weighs in at 11 million tons grading 0.098 oz. gold per ton, uncut, equivalent to 1.09 million contained ounces. Wayside puts the capital costs at $60 million and is projecting a 10-year mine life. However, the person who did the calculation was a shareholder of International Wayside at the time. The study is, therefore, regarded as an internal company document. The exchange is requesting an independent verification of the resource and confirmation that it is economically sound.
On May 18, the company responded by announcing that an independent resource calculation on Cow Mountain had confirmed the earlier estimate. Wayside also boosted its technical expertise by appointing several known professionals to its team. The company retained Haywood Securities as financial advisors and hired Panterra Geoservices to format the logging and sampling of drill core to ensure quality control and confirm the presence, location and grade of gold mineralization through petrographic studies and re-sampling.
On May 10, the gold explorer’s shares were the most actively traded on the junior exchange, soaring 61 to $2.04 on two million shares. The next day, trading was halted “pending clarifications of the company affairs.”
The hopes trading will be permitted to resume by May 26.
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