Gold has come ripping back on the scene this week, packing on more than one hundred dollars per troy ounce to once again be back in the $1,750-U.S.-an-ounce range. Of course, the markets and resources surging are attributed to debt concerns in Europe finally getting a more concrete plan of attack to help the financially-gimping countries.
As pundits have been moaning over genuine concerns from the E.U. possibly causing a global economic spiral, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the gold bulls bucked and the bullion began to climb again.
Powering right along with gold this week has been Toronto-based Xmet, Inc. (TSX-Venture:XME), a junior gold exploration company focused on advanced projects in existing mining camps in Canada. The Company targets properties where previous and historic producing mines have laid the groundwork for new exploration; easing permitting, minimizing costs and lowering risk. Xmet management has highly-relevant experience covering the exploration gamut, including financing and development.
Xmet’s flagship project, the Duquesne-Ottoman Property, is due north of its Toronto headquarters. The Company has not been shy about releasing promising gold findings on the property, with three press releases in the last ten days.
More importantly, the recent news is building upon September’s release of a NI 43-101 report on the Duquesne-Ottoman Property showing Inferred Resources of 4,171,000 tonnes at an average grade of 5.42 g/t gold (6.36 g/t gold uncut) hosting 727,000 cut ounces gold (853,000 uncut ounces gold).
Friday, news hit showcasing more positive drill results at Duquesne-Ottoman as the first seven drill holes of an ongoing Phase 2 program have been received. High-grade gold mineralization continues to be demonstrated. Highlights from the seven drill holes included drill-hole DO-11-38 intersecting 11.66 g/t gold over 5.10 metres and hole DO-11-41 intersecting 7.84 g/t gold over 2.75 metres.
Moreover, a second drill rig is testing potential extensions of mineralization on the Fox zone, an area which the Company considers to be a high priority target.
Shares of XME took a breather Friday after pushing upward Monday through Thursday. Shares had touched 18 cents in September, but had faded back to touch nine cents early in October. A steady flow of good news and resurgence in gold has helped Xmet recover part of what it gave up recently. Shares closed at $0.095 last Friday and a high was hit at 13 cents in early trading today with 12 cents still being held with more than 614,000 shares changing hands at close Friday.
