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Miata Metals is exploring for orogenic gold at its 215 km² Sela Creek project, about 235 km south of Paramaribo, Suriname. In this interview, I asked about the latest Jons Trend drill results, the first scout holes at the new Howler target, metallurgy, cash, and how the rest of the target pipeline is ranked.

TL;DR

CEO Jaap Verbaas told me the newest Jons Trend hole hit 35.25 m at 3.4 g/t gold, including 5.55 m at 15.36 g/t. That makes it the third strong hit in the same higher-grade zone, which they now say they can follow down dip. First metallurgical tests show 94.6% of the gold comes out with standard gravity and leach processing. Howler, a scout target roughly a kilometre to the side of Jons Trend, returned narrow, low-grade vein zones. He framed that as evidence that Jons Trend-style zones could repeat across the property, not just along strike. They have about C$27M in cash, which he says covers a 25,000 to 30,000 m program this year and a 40,000 m base case for next year. He expects to put out drill results roughly every month.

What have they done for shareholders lately?

Two releases since we last spoke. The first covered the Jons Trend drilling: hole JT-023 hit 35.25 m at 3.4 g/t, and hole JT-022, about 150 to 200 m along strike, hit roughly 38 m at about 1.5 g/t. He said JT-023 sits in the same higher-grade zone as earlier holes (30 m at about 4 g/t up dip, and 23 m at 5.7 g/t). The northernmost hole, JT-021, was noticeably weaker. Howler’s five scout holes returned around 7 m at roughly 1.3 g/t and 1.5 m at about 5 g/t. The second release was the metallurgy, with 94.6% free-milling gold. He estimated that about 30 to 40% of the grade at Jons Trend comes from coarse gold, rising to 80% in some high-grade zones. They also built an on-site sample prep lab to cut costs.

How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?

He said they have about C$27M in the bank. The recent financing totalled C$25.2M: La Mancha took a 19.9% stake alongside a bought deal that was upsized from C$7.5M to C$10M within a day because of demand. Miata has raised about C$50M since inception. The money is going almost entirely into drilling. More than 17,500 m of the 25,000 m program is done, and he expects closer to 30,000 m this year. The all-in cost is about C$240 per metre, covering Major Drilling’s contract, fuel and assays. Spending also includes an IP geophysics crew starting now, a third rig, and a larger soil and stream sediment program across the property over the next 18 months. He said they won’t need to raise again until they have drilled at least another 30,000 m.

Upcoming catalysts

On the technical side, he said a substantial number of assays are pending, with releases about monthly for the rest of the year. The key ones are the Golden Hand holes, which test whether Jons Trend and Big Berg connect into a single zone of about 1,400 m. He called that a major de-risking event. Other pending results include scout holes on the Chicago trend, more drilling on the Puma trend, trenching followed by about 600 m (four holes) of follow-up drilling at Howler, and IP results to the northeast of Jons Trend. On the operational side, a third rig is due within a few months, and the internal target ranking will be redone in December. On the corporate side, he gave no timing for a first resource estimate and said it depends on whether they close off Jons Trend first or wait for Puma to grow.

Risks

The CEO was candid that geologists can’t tell 1.5 g/t from 4 g/t by looking at the core. A meaningful share of the grade is coarse, nuggety gold, so expect grade swings from hole to hole. JT-021 was weaker to the northeast. He says the zone isn’t closed off there yet, but it hasn’t been tested further. Golden Hand could show the two zones don’t connect. Howler is not an economic discovery yet, and Stranger already disappointed after two drill passes. There is no resource estimate or timeline for one, so size remains the open question, which he admitted himself. Wet-season access limits drilling in low-lying areas. With a steady cash burn, another raise is likely once the next 30,000 or so metres are drilled.

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