1911 Gold just extended a high-grade gold vein 500 meters along strike and 600 meters deep, and it still isn’t done drilling. The company’s restart plan already has a permit in hand, a mill built, and an economic study claiming a 105% return. What it doesn’t have yet is the updated resource estimate that growth is supposed to feed.
1911 Gold Confirms High-Grade Continuity at SAM W Ahead of a Q4 Resource Estimate
1911 Gold Corporation (TSXV: AUMB; OTCQX: AUMBF) reported assay results on August 25 from eight surface diamond drill holes at the San Antonio West (“SAM W”) target, part of its wholly-owned True North Gold Project in southeastern Manitoba. Hole TN-26-073 intersected 11.31 grams per tonne gold over 1.70 meters, including 16.20 g/t over 0.80 meters; hole TN-26-082 returned 6.79 g/t over 2.40 meters, including 7.98 g/t over 1.40 meters. The drilling confirmed continuity of mineralization within a gap in earlier drilling, an area roughly 200 meters deep and 200 meters along strike, and the company says SAM W is now confirmed continuous over 500 meters of strike length and more than 600 meters of down-plunge depth, remaining open at depth. The intervals are reported as drill core length, representing 70% to 90% of true widths, per the company’s own release.
SAM W is one of three near-mine targets, alongside SAM SE and Shore, discovered in 2024. All are located at higher elevations than True North’s currently defined resource, and all three are feeding toward a maiden resource estimate. CEO Shaun Heinrichs said drilling in support of that resource update is now complete and geological modeling is underway, with the company still on track to deliver an updated global resource estimate in the fourth quarter of this year.
A Fully Permitted Mill and a PEA Claiming 105% Returns
True North isn’t a greenfield project. The company controls a mine and mill complex it describes as fully built and permitted, with infrastructure replacement value estimated at more than $400 million. A Preliminary Economic Assessment published February 10, prepared by AMC Mining Consultants (Canada) Ltd. under NI 43-101, put the after-tax net present value at $391 million (5% discount) with a 105% internal rate of return and a 2.2-year payback, based on a long-term gold price assumption of US$3,000 per ounce. At a constant US$4,800 gold price, closer to recent spot levels, the same PEA calculated an after-tax NPV of $998 million with an almost immediate payback. The plan targets steady-state production of roughly 58,100 ounces a year over an 11-year mine life.
That PEA is a preliminary-level study, not a feasibility study, and it was built on the resource base as it stood in February. The SAM W, SAM SE, and Shore drilling reported since then, including this week’s results, is not yet reflected in it. The Q4 2026 maiden resource estimate on those three targets is the step that would let a future economic study capture what this year’s drilling has actually found.
Financed by the Same Lender Backing Canada Nickel’s Restart Elsewhere
1911 Gold’s restart plan is being financed in part by Auramet International, the same precious-metals merchant bank that has repeatedly extended bridge loans for Canada Nickel’s Crawford project. 1911 Gold entered a loan agreement with Auramet on February 20 for a US$30 million secured credit facility, split into two US$15 million tranches at 12% annual interest, secured against the company’s True North and Rice Lake assets. Alongside the loan, 1911 Gold signed an offtake agreement committing 100% of gold produced from True North and its Rice Lake properties to Auramet until the later of 36 months after closing or full repayment of the facility. Auramet also received arrangement and drawdown fees payable in cash or shares, plus 4.5 million warrants, terms that add both dilution and leverage on top of the financing itself.
Q4-2026 Maiden Resource Estimate, the Hinge Decline Program, and 2027 Production to Watch
Underground exploration drilling from the Hinge decline, testing the depth extensions of the SAM SE target, is underway and expected to be completed by the end of August. Geological wireframe modeling of the veins at SAM W, SAM SE, and Shore has started, feeding toward the maiden resource estimate the company still expects in the fourth quarter of 2026. 1911 Gold continues to target a production restart at True North in 2027, contingent on that resource update, further underground development, and the crushing circuit installation the Auramet facility is meant to fund.
Sources
- PRNewswire: 1911 Gold Reports High-Grade Intercepts from the SAM W Target at True North of 11.31 g/t Au over 1.70 m and 6.79 g/t Au over 2.40 m, August 25, 2026
- PRNewswire: 1911 Gold Delivers Positive PEA for True North Highlighting Robust Economics with Low Capital Intensity and High Returns, February 10, 2026
- Newswire.ca (CNW): 1911 Gold Announces US$30 Million Credit Facility with Auramet International, February 20, 2026
Editorial Disclosure
This article is based entirely on publicly available information, primarily 1911 Gold Corporation’s own press releases distributed via PRNewswire and Newswire.ca (CNW) and filed on SEDAR+. The only security discussed is 1911 Gold Corporation (TSXV: AUMB; OTCQX: AUMBF). aktiego.com has not received any compensation from 1911 Gold, its management, investor relations representatives, or any third party. No staff member or principal of aktiego.com holds a position in this security at the time of publication.
SAM W drill intervals are reported as core lengths, representing 70% to 90% of true widths per the company’s own release; no maiden resource estimate has yet been published for SAM W, SAM SE, or Shore. The qualified person named in the August 25 release, Michele Della Libera, P.Geo., is 1911 Gold’s own Vice-President Exploration, a related-party relationship worth noting. National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) is the Canadian securities disclosure standard governing how mineral projects and resource estimates are reported.
The February 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) is a preliminary-level economic study, less advanced and less certain than a pre-feasibility or feasibility study, and it is based on mineral resources that include Inferred material, which carries a higher level of geological uncertainty and is not assured to be converted to a higher-confidence category or to be economically mined. The PEA’s economics predate the SAM W, SAM SE, and Shore drilling discussed in this article and do not incorporate it. The $998 million NPV figure cited at a constant US$4,800 gold price is a sensitivity case within the PEA, not the study’s base case, and assumes a gold price materially above the base case long-term assumption of US$3,000; results at other price levels would differ. 1911 Gold has not made a production decision, and there is no assurance a decision to restart production will be made or that any restart would proceed on the timeline or at the costs described in the PEA.
The Auramet International credit facility involves secured debt, warrants, and fees payable in cash or shares, all of which carry dilution and leverage risk for existing shareholders. The associated offtake agreement commits 100% of gold production from True North and Rice Lake to Auramet for a minimum period, which may affect 1911 Gold’s flexibility to sell production on other terms during that period.
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