Resource World Magazine

brok er 's p i c k s Derek W ood Coral Gold – a maturing gold story a long time in the making C oral Gold Resources Ltd. [CLHTSXV] has grown over many years and market cycles and is currently developing their flagship Robertson claims in Elko County, Nevada. These claims lie adjacent to Barrick Gold's Cortez Mine where recently Barrick Gold reported proven and probable reserves of over 14 million ounces of gold. Coral first listed its shares in 1981. Over the years the company has enjoyed periods of exciting activity, stock liquidity, and fantastic share price appreciation, yet they have also endured periods of soft junior resource markets and frustrating inactivity. Coral actually saw some production in the early 1980s, but a flattening gold market and low recoveries on the operation led to a short lived production run. In 1986 Louis Wolfin, the then president and CEO, began working with Dr. Ralph Roberts to acquire the holdings now known as the Robertson Claims. The late Dr. Roberts was a renowned geologist, credited with the discovery of the Carlin and Battle Mountain Gold Belts in Nevada. The deposit is now believed to host an estimated 1.1 million ounce deposit. In the mid-90s, financially strapped, Amax Gold pulled out of a joint venture arrangement and Coral again had 100% of the Robertson play. This was the start of a great period of activity with large trading volumes and share price appreciation. In 1997, Coral traded at over $6 per share, which was prior to a 3.3 to one share consolidation. At the time, a $6 share price was equal to a market capitalization of just over $120 million. Then, in the wake of a variety of junior market scandals and a plunging gold price, demand for junior gold stocks diminished; Coral's share price also fell dramatically. Not wanting to dilute 26 www.resourceworld.com shares at that discounted price, Coral went somewhat quiet. In 1998, the Cortez joint venture (Kennecott and Placer Dome) entered into a JV agreement with Coral, on a portion of the Robertson property. This area today is referred to as the "excluded claims" and is the portion of the Robertson property that was directly adjacent to the Pipe Line deposit. This deal, taken over by Barrick Gold, remains in place today: Barrick owns 61% of the excluded claims and Coral 39%. Little work has been completed on this portion of the Robertson property. Coral has filed its environmental assessment and, if accepted, it should lead the way to a blanket permit for up to 500 drill holes. The company states that, "Over the past 20 years, Coral Gold and its various venture partners have spent more than $25 million exploring the claims. This activity has led to the discovery of five mineralized zones: Porphyry, 39A, Gold Pan, Altenburg Hill, Distal and Triplet Gulch." "Over the last few years, Coral has been focusing on its 100%-owned core claims on the Robertson property. Coral reentered and cored holes previously drilled using reverse circulation drilling. Several of the holes had significant improvements in grade. In 2006, Coral also completed more than 10,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling and was able to further delineate the resource near surface. All this led to a NI 43-101 resource calculation published in 2008 of inferred 3.4 million ounces of gold. Unfortunately, at about this time, progress on the property was slowed due to the request by the Bureau of Land Management that Coral file an environmental assessment before they could continue work. This coupled with a weak market for junior gold stocks has led to poor share performance over the last couple of years. Two years and almost $1 million later, Coral has filed its environmental assessment and, if accepted, it should lead the way to a blanket permit for up to 500 drill holes. Coral plans to continue working to improve the size, quality and grade of its resource. A decision on the approval of the EA report is expected very soon. This would likely mark the beginning of another exciting chapter in Coral's history. n Junior mining companies are speculative investments whereby significant loss of capital is possible and should be suitable for risk tolerant investors only. This article is solely the work of the author who is a registered investment advisor at Wolverton Securities Ltd. The views (including any recommendations) expressed in this article are those of the author alone, and are not necessarily those of Wolvreton Securities Ltd. The information contained in this article is drawn from sources believed to be reliable but its accuracy and completeness is not guaranteed. This article is not to be construed as an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any securities. Wolverton Securities Ltd. The author of this article may or may not hold securities of the companies mentioned in the article. Wolverton Securities Ltd. Is a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Derek Wood can be reached at 403-218-3580 or Derek.wood@ wolverton.ca february 2013

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