Ann: Vertex Power-up Gravity Gold Plant at Reward, page-18

Before investing in Hill End Gold (HEG) many years ago, I did some research into the history and existing status of the tenements, and it appeared clear that this was a large high grade goldfield. The Hill End Anticline extended for about 25kms and the total strike length of mineralisation on the HEG tenements was about 34kms, with about 3,500 shallow old workings spread along its entire length. A Canadian company had a few years back been part-owner of the project, and around that time the deposit was estimated to still contain about 4 - 5 million ounces of gold. It's quite feasible that gold of that magnitude still exists in the VTX tenements.

After being discovered in 1851, the gold rush occurred mainly in the 1860s - 1880s, and it was during that era that the massive Holtermann Nugget was discovered, a gold-in-quartz specimen weighing 286kg and estimated to contain over 3,000 ounces of gold. And more recently the Hawkins Hill deposit had reportedly produced 435koz at a grade of 309 g/t. Interestingly, VTX's first target is the Reward Mine beneath Hawkins Hill.

Occasional but unco-ordinated activity occurred after Hawkins Hill, but the gold price was only about one third of the current price, and HEG appeared to lose interest in gold and started chasing rainbows - high purity alumina (HPA), uranium, mineral sands, etc, and became involved in West Africa. Hill End was put into Care and Maintenance in 2011.

Fortunately in January 2022 the gold interests including Hill End were spun off from HEG/PUA into VTX, and we now appear to have a competent management and field team focussed only on gold production and exploration. They have a 50kt stockpile alongside the plant to process and produce income while developing the proximal Reward Underground Mine. Sampling of the stockpile gave an average grade of 4.02 g/t, with grades ranging from 0.07g/t - 12.03 g/t.

In view of the fact that the historical workings at Hill End only reached a maximum depth of about 200m, and most were only down to the water table at about 19 meters, it is expected that substantial gold will be found at greater depths, and it's likely that VTX will have a very long life project developing the deposits along the 34km strike.

The Fosters deposit 400m south of Reward is estimated to contain about 260koz at a grade of about 15.6g/t, and the Hargraves deposit is another already known source of high grade ore. The Reward deposit has a reported average grade of 16.7 g/t.

An item of particular interest is that in early 2023 VTX reported the drilling results of a small additional tenement recently acquired in the middle of Hargraves, which had previously been excluded from the VTX holdings - EL9485. The results included 6m @ 60.45g/t, 2m @ 27.65 g/t, 2m @ 10.45 g/t and 2m @ 14.29 g/t.

It's hard to believe that VTX has a market cap of only $32M, especially when you compare it with say BCN with an MC of $93M, and I believe that VTX is a far superior investment. Before investing in any stock, I try to evaluate whether the stock is good value at its current market cap, and I've now added VTX to my top four gold stocks for value (the other three being CYL, BC8 and PNR). With production of gold from the stockpile commencing in early 2025, and progress at the Reward Mine throughout next year and into 2026, I would expect a substantial re-rate in the VTX share price.

Cheers,Mike