High price of gold driving interest on Newfoundland's west coast, says mining CEO

There's new interest in gold exploration on Newfoundland's west coast, and the head of the mining company awarded mineral rights says its interest is being driven by the mineral's high price.

On July 31 the province announced junior mining company Galloper Gold had been awarded the mining rights for Glover Island Exempt Mineral Land, near Corner Brook. 

Toronto-based CEO Hratch Jabrayan said gold prices have risen in recent years, and that makes gold exploration in more remote areas attractive to large investors.

"Gold being $3,300 now, that creates a lot of new opportunities for ... remote locations or locations that are just kind of in development mode — such as Newfoundland — to become attractive again for major investors," he told CBC.

"I think that there's a great opportunity to take this forward."

According to a government statement, there are 19 mineral prospects and showings, the majority of which are for gold, as well as separate prospects for copper and zinc.

This would make Galloper Gold one of a handful of companies interested in striking gold in the province, including Calibre Mining which acquired Marathon Gold and its Valentine Gold project in central Newfoundland, and Maritime Resources Corporation's Hammerdown Gold project in the Baie Verte mining district.

Jabrayan said the mining cycle is long: going from discovery to getting a mine operational takes several years, and a mine at Glover Island isn't guaranteed.

"We are nowhere near having the amount of resource to be a mine yet. This is just the start."

Jabrayan said the first steps will be to "drill aggressively on the island," continue exploring and in a few years Galloper Gold will know what type of resource they have on their hands.

"Galloper Gold is all about delivering the next big gold copper deposit in Newfoundland," he said.

Jabrayan said it's a 144-square kilometre island on a freshwater lake that has a historical deposit in it, calling it "a very, very attractive opportunity."

While it was long known there is gold in the area, he said there were several impediments to mining there, like getting investment and available human resources.

He pointed to Canadian gold exploration company Mountain Lake Resources, which had to stop after completing 17,000 metres of drilling in the region because it failed to raise additional funding. As a result, the company relinquished its license.

Jabrayan said Galloper Gold was founded a few years ago and went public in March 2024.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.