(Kitco News) - As gold prices surge past $3,000 an ounce, junior mining companies are hoping for renewed investor interest – but the optimism is not shared equally across the sector. For Newcore Gold, the moment couldn’t be better.
The Vancouver-based gold explorer recently raised $15 million, bringing its total cash and cash equivalents to $31 million. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its drilling program in Ghana from 10,000 to 35,000 meters.
“We are going to be extremely active in 2025,” Luke Alexander, president and CEO of Newcore Gold, told Kitco Mining. “We’ll be able to execute on our business plan and get lots of results out to the market.”
Alexander emphasized that while his company is well positioned, many junior gold explorers are still struggling to raise capital despite record-breaking bullion prices. “Investors are ultimately choosing between companies that they see as having projects that will create significant shareholder value,” he said. “They’re really being discerning.”
Newcore’s flagship Enchi Gold Project in Ghana sits on the prolific Sefwi-Bibiani gold belt, near major operations owned by Newmont and other global producers. According to Alexander, the company’s Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) outlined an after-tax Net Present Value of $632 million and an Internal Rate of Return of 92% at a gold price of $2,350 per ounce. The project’s capital expenditure was estimated at $106 million with a payback period of just 1.1 years.
“We’ve got a project that, for us at Newcore, is a very buildable project,” he said. “We’re not beholden to M&A… We keep all of our options open.”
The company is targeting both infill drilling to convert resources from the inferred to indicated category and expansion drilling aimed at deeper and untested zones. “When you look at the drilling that we’ve done to date, the average vertical depth that constrains our pits is down to just 75 meters,” Alexander said. “These deposits can go down to 800 meters or more.”
A Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2025 and published in the first half of 2026.
Newcore’s leadership includes veterans of successful mining ventures such as Newmarket Gold and Calibre Mining. “Doug Forster and Blaine Johnson were co-founders of Newcore, and I worked closely with them on Newmarket and Calibre,” Alexander said. “It’s a group that I’ve worked with for a long time.”
Ghana, the largest gold producer in Africa and the sixth globally, remains a key jurisdiction for global producers. Alexander said Newcore is well-positioned to benefit from Ghana’s mining-friendly environment and infrastructure. “Look at what the major mining companies are doing,” he said. “Newmont is investing another billion dollars into its Ahafo project, and Zijin just paid a billion dollars for a non-core asset. That says a lot.”
With a board and management team holding 15% of the company, Newcore’s leadership is aligned with shareholders, Alexander added. “We see a huge amount of value being created as we move from PEA to PFS. And that’s just the beginning of what we think this district can deliver.”
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