2 years on the ground in NZ. Could have been producing 50,000 oz...

2 years on the ground in NZ. Could have been producing 50,000 oz per annum by now. This weeks move in $US PoG bringing Gold (Au) Producer's share prices back to life. Validation for patient investors in precious metals.
Opportunity lost for SNG at Reefton. SNG shareholders will require continued patience.
I am changing my sentiment to "Buy" on this stock as peak inflation confirmed over night by US CPI print, however I do not intend to add this stock to my portfolio whilst they remain in exploration only mode. Waiting for confirmation of plans to pursue mine development.

Drilling these style of deposits from the surface is expensive and uncertain. Drill results to date probably don't reflect the real quantity of gold in the ground. Disappointing MRE is a function of this phenomenon. Bulk sampling and trial mining is required at Reefton to reveal true (reality) / real gold grades. This has already been demonstrated by the historical mining activities and the surface channel sampling works.
Here are two extracts from an industry paper that expands on this topic. Link included.


Synopsis
Gold–quartz reefs are often characterized by localized, erratic high grades and, in many cases, coarse free gold. They typically display a high to extreme nugget effect, and the sampling of these deposits for resource evaluation presents a corresponding challenge. Core drilling is generally an effective measure of geological continuity, but reliable grade data and confirmation of its continuity can only be obtained from underground
development. Generally it will be possible to estimate only an inferred mineral resource from drill data alone; underground development with closely spaced infill drilling and bulk sampling will be required to delineate indicated and measured mineral resources.

Conclusions
Gold-bearing quartz reefs are among the most challengingtypes of deposit to evaluate. Their characteristics are potentially complex geology, dominantly free gold, a highly skewedgold grade distribution and a high nugget effect. As a result,surface drilling is a good measure of geological continuity but a poor indicator of grade. Substantial underground development, including bulk sampling, trial mining, closely spaceddrilling and sustained geological study, is required forresource evaluation. Early, drilling-based resource estimates are generally restricted to the inferred mineral resource category because of the low confidence in grade and in somecases will only be assignable to the exploration results category, for which no grade or tonnage may be quoted.Following underground development and bulk sampling, as part of a feasibility study, the resource category could beuprated to an indicated mineral resource and probable orereserve and in rare cases to a measured mineral resource. The role of bulk sampling is important. Comparisonsbetween drill, channel and bulk samples have shown therelatively poor-quality data produced by small-size drill andchannel samples, thus supporting the bulk-samplingapproach. The downside is that well-planned and well-conducted bulk-sampling programmes are both time-consumingand expensive. However, if this is the only way to demonstrateto investors, shareholders, etc., that the deposit in question isworthwhile, it must be the way forward. What is critical is thatthe development and bulk-sampling programme is carried outproperly.