Update: Excelsior Mining Starts Metallurgical Drill Program At Gunnison

Summary

• Excelsior Mining will be drilling ten additional holes for metallurgical test work purposes.
• This could have been expected, as the metallurgical test work needs to be brought to a higher level before completing the feasibility study.
• The investment thesis doesn’t change with this news. The company still is a high risk/high reward investment.

Excelsior Mining (OTCQB:EXMGF) has announced it has started a drill program in Arizona to further advance its metallurgical studies which should increase the confidence in the viability of the Gunnison copper project in Arizona. This drill program will be based on ten holes with approximately 6,400 feet of drilling to be conducted. The samples which will be recovered with this program will be used for extensive metallurgical test work, and I'm particularly interested in seeing the results of column tests and acid consumption tests, as the acid consumption ratio will be an important driver for the production costs.

After Taseko Mines (TGB) made an offer to acquire Curis Resources (OTCPK:PCRFF) last week, Excelsior should get a boost as a more senior copper producer is willing to bet close to $100M on an in-situ recovery [ISR] project. These ten drill holes which will allow Excelsior to increase its confidence in the metallurgy and the recovery of the copper, are a next step to de-risk the project. Earlier this year, a pre-feasibility study roughly confirmed the findings of the Preliminary Economic Assessment and re-established Gunnison as a potential cheap source of copper in the USA. As it's an ISR-project, Mr. Market apparently needs some more information to be convinced the project will be viable.

With this move to bring the metallurgical component of the Gunnison project to the feasibility-level, Excelsior continues to advance Gunnison, and maybe one of Taseko's competitors would be interested, if a definitive feasibility study would re-confirm the project as a low-cost copper producer.

Editor's Note: This article covers one or more microcap stocks. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.

Analyst’s Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.